THE INDIAN ALTERNATIVE

Another private medicine resource

We know that it is routine for x-rays and many diagnostic tests to be interpreted overnight by medical professionals in India. In a fairly new development, though, it's not just the tests that are headed off to the subcontinent for diagnosis, but the patients themselves -- and they're going in droves.

Medical tourism to India started fairly recently when NRIs (non-resident Indians -- those living and working in the West) began to go "home" to India seeking not just their roots, but root canals. They returned with killer smiles and tales of the staggering savings in costs -- even factoring in airfares -- and excellence of treatment. NRIs, aware from their families of India's state-of-the-art technology and the level of surgical skill, also head off "home" for more critical treatment, like kidney transplants, hip replacements and open heart surgery. Indeed, India's 20 million diaspora returning to the US and Britain after successful treatment are India's best ambassadors.

Britons plagued by their socialist and inefficient National Health Service waiting lists (people diagnosed with cancer or degenerative heart disease can wait for an operation for a year or even more) and Americans who didn't keep up their health insurance after retiring -- or never had any -- are now choosing their hospitals and surgeons on the internet and booking their flights to India. And to make it even easier, there are medical tourism companies in India who will take care of all these details for them.

Now, some enterprising hospitals offer greet-and-treat services with an all-inclusive health-tourist package, including the desired medical procedure, hotel, air travel, bookings and admissions to popular tourist attractions. And India has the overwhelming advantage being Anglophone.

A full cycle of IVF treatment followed by a bracing vacation amid the majesty of the Himalayas! Or get your mouth completely redesigned, your teeth recapped by a dentist employing the latest technology and pop over to the exotic pink city of Jaipur in Rajasthan to practice your new smile … all at a fraction of the cost of the medical procedure alone in the West.

If you need more serious treatment, you can have your kidney transplant or spinal surgery in a hospital that is as hygienic and well-equipped as most hospitals in the West -- and a good deal better than some. Hip replacement recuperation may not include a hike to the base camp of Mount Anapurna, but you'll be well attended by skillful and qualified people and you'll return home with the same results you would have achieved in the West for around a quarter of the cost - or sometimes much less.

Access to open heart surgery in India is immediate, and it will cost, without complications, around $10,000 - against around $50,000 in America or privately in Britain. A biopsy for a brain tumor will cost around $1,000 and surgery around $6,000. Hip replacements using the newest techniques cost in the neighborhood of $6,500, with no waiting lists. There are hospitals specializing in nothing but spinal and joint surgery.

Most British and Americans are accustomed, anyway, to being treated by expatriate Indian doctors.

The implications are mind-boggling. Already, it is being suggested in Britain that the National Health Service send patients to India for cataract and hip-replacement surgeries. Again, it is possible that once this catches on, which is happening at the speed of light, insurance giants in the West will soon funnel patients to India for, say, bypass operations or organ transplants. A sign of both quality and acceptance is the fact that already, Blue Cross and Blue Shield will insure patients treated at some groups of Indian hospitals. The British health insurer BUPA also insures treatment at the same chain.

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THE "UNQUALIFIED" CANCER SPREADS IN QUEENSLAND

Two foreign doctors are working in the North-West Queensland town of Mt Isa without proper qualifications or supervision, the state Opposition says. One of the doctors at Mt Isa Hospital had been working as a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist without approved specialist qualifications, and was performing surgery without appropriate supervision, Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg said Medical and nursing staff have also questioned the competence of another overseas-trained doctor working at the hospital, Mr Springborg said. "We have been concerned to learn of these matters in the last 24 hours," he said. "The matter was raised by a senior physician, who was concerned about it.

The Opposition also believes overseas-trained doctors are fleeing the state because of the Medical Board's recent audit of their qualifications and the Beattie Government's commission of inquiry stemming from the scandal over the so-called 'Dr Death'. The inquiry headed by Tony Morris, QC, is investigating the appointment of Indian-trained Jayant Patel, who has been linked with more than 20 deaths at the Bundaberg Base Hospital.

Health Minister Gordon Nuttall said the Opposition should immediately refer the Mt Isa allegations to the Medical Board and the Morris inquiry for investigation. While he was not aware of a mass exodus of overseas-trained doctors from the state, Mr Nuttall said he could understand why some might choose to leave. "The net has been cast and all overseas trained doctors, unfortunately, in my view, are under some cloud of suspicion," he said.

Premier Peter Beattie hit back at the Opposition, saying it was partly responsible for the loss of any foreign doctors from the state's health system. "If they stopped trying to malign the health system and stopped trying to be negative on every occasion, then that won't happen," Mr Beattie said. "If any foreign doctor leaves the system here, it's partly because the opposition seeks to denigrate them at every opportunity with their incessant criticism."

There are about 1670 overseas-trained doctors working in Queensland, mostly in rural and regional areas. The Government has said they are a crucial part of the health system

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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