UK health tourism booms as NHS waits drive Britons abroad for surgery

New data from the Office for National Statistics shows 523,000 Britons went abroad for medical treatment last year, a 50 percent rise since 2022. The figure underscores a booming health-tourism sector, driven by shorter waits and cheaper procedures overseas. Turkey accounted for more than 40 percent of those trips, making it the top destination for British medical travellers.

Other popular destinations included Poland, Romania and Portugal, while India was the only country outside Europe in the top ten, attracting about 22,000 British patients.

Among those seeking treatment abroad was 66-year-old Paul Seamons, who flew to Lithuania for a hip replacement after being diagnosed with osteoarthritis. The Norfolk retiree said he was told by an NHS consultant he would be added to a waiting list, but he opted to go private abroad. He booked surgery in Kaunas for £8,500 — roughly half the price quoted privately in the UK. Within weeks of making his first enquiry, he flew out for the procedure at Nordclinic and, seven weeks later, was back on his bike, later completing a 240-mile non-stop trip.

Orthopaedic surgery now tops the NHS waiting list, with 700,888 patients waiting for hip, knee and other joint operations — the highest figure in more than a decade. Hospitals across Europe report a surge in British patients seeking to escape delays and lower fees often half those charged by private clinics in the UK. Nordclinic's commercial director, Vilius Sketrys, said the wait times have driven people abroad: “This significant and steep increase in patient numbers is an indication of the strain being felt by the NHS.”

Health-care experts warn that traveling overseas for major surgery carries risks. Dr. Mo Akhavani, a consultant surgeon and co-founder of The Plastic Surgery Group, cautioned that most patients should not fly for at least six weeks after major surgery due to the risk of blood clots, a standard risk many patients still take because extended stays abroad can be costly. “If you go abroad and something goes wrong, you may struggle to find a clinician here willing to correct it,” he said. “The issue is that while there are excellent doctors overseas, the pre- and post-operative care that is vital is often missing with fly-in, fly-out procedures.”

Many patients begin with UK consultations and then choose cheaper surgery abroad, but specialists note that aftercare and possible complications can become a difficult pathway back home. The broader pattern highlights how NHS delays and private-market pricing are fueling a growing, cross-border health-care economy, with patients weighing the speed of treatment against the potential for uneven follow-up care.