NHS: Treatment of Children from Other Countries

Debate between Baroness Merron and Lord Hogan-Howe

Thursday 21st November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hogan-Howe]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what policy they have in relation to the treatment of children from other countries who have life-threatening and rare diseases for which high-quality treatment is available on the NHS.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, no specific government policy exists for treating children from other countries with life-threatening or rare diseases and it is generally preferable to treat patients close to home, subject to capacity and expertise. Some UK international healthcare agreements, mostly with Europe, the British Crown dependencies and overseas territories, permit doctors to refer patients to the UK. Referrals are usually reimbursed and happen when wait times are excessive or the treatments are not available in the child’s home country.

[Lord Hogan-Howe (CB)]

I thank the Minister for the reply. This really is a Question about trying to inspire the NHS at a time when it probably most needs it. Professor Owase Jeelani is a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon based at Great Ormond Street. His worldwide speciality is the separation of conjoined twins who are unfortunately joined at the head. He has now carried out nine of these operations, obviously affecting 18 children, and, because of the frequency, his success rate and the outcomes have improved over time. More recently, four of the nine operations were carried out abroad. If they are carried out at home, £1 million has to be raised every time to pay for them, which the professor ends up having to do. Alternatively, he and his team have to travel abroad, which means that he spends less time operating at Great Ormond Street in other specialities on children who need his support. Is the Minister prepared to meet the professor to see whether there is any better way of dealing with these problems, which are rare? It is of course an international problem and the babies affected have no hope unless someone does this.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Lord shines a light on the rarity of this condition as well as its importance. I would of course be happy to meet the professor. The noble Lord will know from our own discussions that this is an extremely complex area across the NHS and there is, as I said in my Answer, no overarching UK approach. Rightly, this is a trust-led approach because trusts have to make decisions about the balance between specialist work and other work, including the reduction of waiting lists.