Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
CROSS-BORDER medical treatment would become mired in red tape with patients caught up in complex regulations in an independent Scotland, according to claims from the pro-Union campaign.
Scottish patients requiring specialist surgery south of the Border would have to go through the same process as if they were travelling to a European Union state, Better Together said. This could lead to delays in treatment and medical costs having to be paid by the patient before being reimbursed.
Health boards in Scotland can at present arrange travel to specialist transplant centres such as Freeman Hospital in Newcastle or Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and there are few, if any, costs for patients. However, if Scotland votes to leave the UK in the 2014 referendum, patients seeking treatment in England, Wales or Northern Ireland would have to use one of two complex routes agreed between EU member states. Those healthcare arrangements are rarely used because of the complexity.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/scottish-independence-nhs-future-clarity-sought-1-2818999
Scottish patients requiring specialist surgery south of the Border would have to go through the same process as if they were travelling to a European Union state, Better Together said. This could lead to delays in treatment and medical costs having to be paid by the patient before being reimbursed.
Health boards in Scotland can at present arrange travel to specialist transplant centres such as Freeman Hospital in Newcastle or Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and there are few, if any, costs for patients. However, if Scotland votes to leave the UK in the 2014 referendum, patients seeking treatment in England, Wales or Northern Ireland would have to use one of two complex routes agreed between EU member states. Those healthcare arrangements are rarely used because of the complexity.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/scottish-independence-nhs-future-clarity-sought-1-2818999