Patient mobility: advice to local healthcare commissioners on handling requests for hospital care in other European countries

The purpose of this guidance is to help local healthcare commissioners throughout the UK to handle requests from the public to go to certain other European countries for treatment which in the UK is provided in hospitals. It reminds commissioners of the arrangements that already exist for handling such requests and explains the implications of recent rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Watts and other related cases. It advises commissioners that they must have systems in place for handling requests to go abroad for treatment.

(April 2007)