AFRICAN HEARTS

Patients awaiting surgery are heading abroad

With over 10,000 Britons awaiting heart surgery and NHS waiting lists anything up to 12 months, many patients are taking their health into their own hands.

Paddy Irvine is one such patient. In need of a triple heart bypass, Paddy is no longer prepared to wait six months for surgery at his local hospital.

Inside Out follows Paddy as he travels 8,000 miles to undergo heart surgery in Cape Town, South Africa.

The price is right

Paddy is in need of a tripple heart bypass. The estimated cost of the surgery in South Africa is £9,000 - half the price Paddy was quoted at a private hospital in Birmingham.

Paddy is in need of a triple heart bypass operation

A price Paddy is only too willing to pay.

"I could have a heart attack any day," says Paddy. "And if I wait for the National Health Service - as good as it is - I might be dead."

And Paddy's not the only one prepared to pay for health care abroad.

At the age of 79, George Reid has flown to South Africa to have both knees replaced at the cost of £8,000.

Specialist treatment fast

This is a trend that Dr Andrew Rouse believes is set to continue.

"The concept of having local treatment in a local hospital with a local doctor is dead and buried," warns Dr Rouse.

"When people have a problem they want to go where they can get specialist treatment fast."

"If that specialist treatment is in the next city, the next country, the next continent, a lot of people are prepared to go for it."

Testing times

Paddy is met at the airport in South Africa by Paul Keeble from Panorama hospital. Two hours later Paddy under goes tests he had waited four months to receive in the UK.

The tests are not a moment to soon. The angiogram reveals that Paddy, without realising it, has suffered from two heart attacks. The need for a triple bypass has now turned into a quadruple bypass.

Paddy had not budgeted for the quadruple bypass surgery, but at an extra £2,000, he is prepared to pay.

The price of health

Others are less willing to part with such large sums of money for what should be a service supplied by the NHS.

Tony O'Sullivan has travelled to South Africa for a hip resurface after his local hospital deemed him too old.

Tony's operation is overseen by a consultant trained in Birmingham, using a technique developed in Birmingham. But Tony's operation was carried out 8,000 miles away from Birmingham.

Tony O'Sullivan has travelled to South Africa for a hip resurface

"One feels a bit hard done by in a way," explains Tony. "One's spent one's lifetime donating money to the NHS, but when you actually need it, you can't use it."

Whilst Tony has borrowed money from his father-in-law to pay for his surgery, 79 year old George Reid has spent his and his wife's savings on his knee replacement.

Medicine as a business

Paul Keeble of the Panorama Hospital insists that the surgery offered is excellent value for money, and has no qualms when it comes to patients paying the bill.

"Medicine is a business," says Paul. "The patients are spending their money but they're spending it on a very worthwhile thing - their health."

Paddy's operation is a success

For Paddy Irvine, it certainly was a case of money well spent. His quadruple bypass was a success and surgeons in the Panorama were doubtful whether Paddy could have survived the six months wait in the UK.

Paddy has recently received compensation from the government towards the cost of his surgery.

Patient power

With many patients no longer prepared to wait months for treatment they desperately need, the appeal of surgery abroad is growing. So what is the future for the NHS?

"Patients are going to vote with their feet," says Dr Rouse. "They're going to look for other places. They're going to start having this surgery. They're going to start sending the bills to the health authorities."

"Times will change. The NHS will change."