The Dubai parallel (From York Press)

The Dubai parallel

8:06am Thursday 23rd August 2012 in Letters

IT IS being reported that the NHS has plans to set up profit-making branches abroad and that the Patients’ Association is against this saying it will shift focus away from local services.

I have worked in several countries and just before my last stint as an expatriate in the United Arab Emirates, a routine eye test in York showed up the start of glaucoma in one eye. I had to visit a consultant privately but I was given the green light to proceed with my overseas position, with the proviso that I should get my symptoms checked every six months. I went Dubai, which I had to visit on business a couple of times a week, and into the Medical City area. There I found a branch of Moorfields, the London-based eye hospital. It was filled with the latest technology and had staff recruited from around the world. I had rigorous testing over about four hours. The care and service were exemplary.

The NHS says that profits from such new centres would be invested in new facilities within the UK, so the British people would benefit. It was my experience that the mix of international personnel in Dubai improved the system rather than detracting.

Bob Redwood, Main Street, Askham Bryan, York.