NHS S2 funding route

Paolo

Hi All,

Referred for a hip replacement, the consultant told me that the waiting list is 18-24 months. So I’m researching the Planned Treatment S2 funding route. This is an agreement with EU and EEA countries under which you can be refunded for treatment (but not for travel, accommodation, etc) abroad, provided the treatment is available to citizens of that country under their state system.

My question is whether anyone has tried to use this and, if so, where and for what treatment? How did it work out?

Hoping to find that this does work…and, maybe, with shorter waiting times than in the UK at present.

yours - Paul

noddingtonpete

Hello @Paolo and welcome to the Online Community. An interesting idea and I am sure others will be interested in your success if it happens.

There was another discussion on this

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/56990/getting-s2-funding-for-hip-replacement-in-europe

but no comment as to whether that was successful. You will have to let us know how you get on.

Good luck and best wishes

Peter

Paolo

I’ve now heard back via FOI from NHS England some interesting statistics. Here they are:-

How many applications for the S2 route have been made?

Year	No. of S2's received
2019	273
2020	282
2021	301
2022	445
2023	547

How many applications have been approved?

Year	No. of S2's approved
2019	62
2020	96
2021	75
2022	93
2023	151

In which countries has the approved treatment been planned and for which treatments (summary categories would suffice for different treatments)?

Top 10 countries	Top 10 categories
Poland	Trauma & Orthopaedics (e.g. Knee, Hip, Osteoarthritis)
Lithuania	General Surgery (Obesity, Hernia’s, Appendicitis)
France	Gynaecology (Endometriosis, Fibroids, Polyps)
Italy	ENT (Nose, Tonsilitis, Ear infections)
Germany	Medical Oncology (Chemotherapy)
Hungary	Paediatric ENT
Czech Republic	Dental (Extraction)
Belgium	Primary Care GP (UTIs, Ear infections, Cystitis)
Romania	Neurosurgery (Spinal, Discs, Brain)
Bulgaria	Vascular (varicose veins, DVT)

olivia_b

Hello, @Paolo some very interesting statistics there, thank you for sharing.

Nurina

I'm very interested in this post. I live in Wales and I'll have my hip replaced in 2 years in the "urgent" list. Do you know if it's possible to choose the country? Thanks for sharing

shacklock25

I am sorry to hear this. I have stage 4 arthritis in my left hip and can hardly walk. I saw my GP in January as I had been limping for two years and now needed a stick to walk. He sent me for an x-ray and I saw a physio four weeks later just for one session. She said the hip showed moderate arthritis, which was wrong. It was bone on bone. I then had to wait eight weeks to see the main physio. After one session I was made much worse so asked to be referred to an advanced practitioner. I saw him two weeks later. He said it was stage 4 and asked me if I wanted a hip replacement. I said yes, so he referred me to the orthopaedic department. He said would I be prepared to go to the nearby private hospital which now sees many NHS patients. I said yes, and within three weeks I saw a consultant there. That was two days ago. He has put me down for the operation in six weeks time as my condition is bad. So altogether the process will have been six months which is not too bad. You definitely should not have to wait two years. I live in England. Could you perhaps get treated in an English hospital?

Nurina

England has a waiting list of 36 weeks. Wales, Scotland and N Ireland are struggling with waiting lists of at least 104 weeks. I know that English hospitals are taking patients from other places. If anybody here can explain how to be referred to an English hospital, I'd appreciate it. Thanks

alwayssewing

It may depend on how your area works.

I was contacted by the appointment booking department and I was told I had a choice of hospitals but the length of their waiting lists varied. At first she said Wigan hospital but that's at least an hour's drive .

Then she listed a private hospital 20 minutes away so I opted for that. I have previously taken other people there so I knew it well.

Everything happened fairly fast after that although there was a holdup of an extra 3 weeks because the GP didn't send my ex-rays to the consultant so he could decide how to proceed . All sorted when I called the practice secretary.