A new report from a highly respected source reveals that you have no reason to fear healthcare services abroad if you herald from the UK, because they are likely to be better than you’re potentially able to achieve back home in Britain!
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has revealed that when it comes to cancer survival rates for example, even the likes of South Korea and Mexico top the UK. This just goes to prove that the much lauded NHS is not working, and that if the current government is planning on even more investment cut backs to try and reduce the public deficit, things could get a whole lot worse.
If you’ve been thinking about retiring abroad or going overseas to work and you’re worried about healthcare standards abroad, it would appear that you perhaps don’t need to be! Things in Britain are far from perfect – so if you have health worries perhaps you’d be better off emigrating after all!
The report reveals that the healthcare standards achieved in Britain are worse than even former communist states in Eastern Europe. When it comes to the number of years you are expected on average to survive following a diagnosis and treatment for the likes of breast or bowel cancer, Britain’s stats fall well below the international average. It doesn’t improve when you look at heart attack survival rates either.
Of course, the government has put a positive spin on it – we’d expect nothing less! After all, how much public money does the government actually spend on its own PR and spin doctors? They have highlighted that despite languishing near the bottom in terms of survival rates from these devastating illnesses, Britain has improved! The government claims that this is testimony to the amount they have pumped in in investment for the NHS…
Well, that may well be the case – however, we would like to suggest that if a little less were spent on managers and a little more was spent on staffing, not only would survival rates perhaps rise, but moral would be boosted and staff would be happier to do their jobs which in turn would have a very positive effect on patients.
Aside from our opinion for a moment however – after all, Shelter Offshore is not a political mouthpiece! – we would just like to point out that if you’re moving overseas and you’ve been worried about healthcare standards internationally, perhaps the OECD report will highlight the fact to you that you needn’t necessarily be so concerned!
Naturally a lot depends on where in the world you relocate to, and you need to look at each nation’s healthcare offering on a case-by-case basis, but if you ensure that you have a decent level of insurance in place to cover you for all eventualities, you should be able to get the care and treatment you need no matter where in the world you’re living. And if you herald from the UK, perhaps the only thing you won’t want is repatriation insurance!
On a final note – we recognise that the NHS is an incredible resource and of massive value to the British public – it is not however, perfect. More investment is required – and for those who are concerned about their health, there are certainly better nations all over the globe when it comes to offering you a better potential survival rate from critical diseases and illnesses. If you are relocating overseas it is essential to look closely at the level of healthcare service you will be afforded; you may find you do need insurance to allow you access to potential treatment – and finally, we were joking about repatriation insurance, because there are times when an expatriate really requires it. Once again, you need to look at your requirement for it on a case-by-case, nation-by-nation basis.
