You don’t ask the fire brigade to water your garden!

Two weeks ago I had a hernia repaired in Lithuania. As I wrote in Bylines, the NHS part funded my treatment, so that even with flights and hotel, it cost me less than half what I’d have paid for private treatment her in the UK.

A common post operative problem is swelling and fluid build up, as the body reacts to what is quite a brutal, but unseen treatment. Usually, these swellings go away on their own, but in case It’s become something of a problem.

My GP told me to go to A&E, so yesterday I did just that, and nine hours later, after some poking and prodding, blood tests and a CT scan I was allowed to go home to sleep, but return this afternoon to have the thing drained.

My Lithuanian experience was professional, affordable and available, while in the UK the NHS waiting list is long, and the private alternative expensive. But while I could have returned to Lithuania for emergency post-operative treatment, my local hospital was happy to fit me in. The NHS excels at responding quickly when treatment is urgently needed, but the consequence of this is that non-urgent treatment gets pushed back, hence the concern about waiting lists.

I liken the NHS to the fire brigade, and the clinic I went to in Lithuania to a supplier of irrigation equipment. One fights health fires, and the other provides a service people ar willing to pay for. I reckon each should stick to what it does best, and the NHS should encourage more people to go abroad for treatment they want, but won’t die if they don’t get.