Many Patients "Willing To Travel Abroad For Treatment"

Research by the MORI Social Research Institute for the British Medical Association has found that more than two in five (42%) patients would be willing to travel outside the UK for treatment and that more than half (51%) believe involving other organisations -- including the private sector -- would improve the provision of NHS health care.

One of the questions posed by this survey was: "In your opinion, if NHS healthcare was provided not just by those employed by the NHS but by a variety of organisations, including private hospitals, would things be better, worse or the same as the NHS?" More than half (51%) said that a mix of providers, including private hospitals, would improve NHS health care, 16% thought such a mix would be worse and a quarter (25%) said they thought it would make no difference.

MORI SRI asked a second question about how far people would be prepared to travel for treatment if they faced a long wait on the NHS and if the NHS would pay for their care: "If you faced a long wait for an operation, e.g. a hip replacement, and the NHS was funding your treatment, how far would you be prepared to travel, if at all, to get treated sooner?" More than a quarter (26%) said they would travel anywhere in the world and 15% said that they would be prepared to travel anywhere in Europe. More than a quarter (27%) would travel anywhere in the UK.

The Public's Trust In Doctors Rises

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,982 adults aged 15+ in 191 sampling points in Great Britain from 20 -- 24 June 2002.

All interviews were conducted face-to-face in-home and the data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.