Pensioner wins High Court hip battle
A pensioner who claimed that the NHS must pay for her hip replacement carried out in France has won a High Court ruling in her favour “in principle”.
Mr Justice Munby ruled that health secretary John Reid was wrong in arguing that patients who went to other EU states for medical treatment after waiting less than the official 12-month target had no claim on the NHS.
Under European Community law E112 rule, he said, any EU citizen suffering so-called “undue delays” in receiving treatment in their home country can apply to have the operation in another member state.
However, 72-year-old Yvonne Watts, from Bedford, will not receive the £3,800 cost of her operation. The judge ruled that, although Ms Watts had won the legal argument, there were particular facts of her case that meant she would not receive compensation.
He said that Ms Watts had not waited long enough for her operation and noted that the hospital had offered to move her treatment forward, but ruled that other patients suffering “undue delay” could go abroad for treatment, paid for by the NHS, even if the case met NHS waiting targets.
Ms Watts, an arthritis sufferer, had to cross the channel for the procedure after she was told by her local hospital that she would have to wait for over a year.
Ms Watts’ solicitor Richard Stein said: “Although Yvonne Watts’s claim has failed on a technical point, she is delighted that others facing the same pain and wait will now have more choice for earlier treatment.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “This is a complex case and we need to consider the detail. We are looking at any wider implications for the NHS. Our objective is to reduce the length of time that people wait. Waiting times are falling and we are committed to continuing this progress.”
