A RECENT European ruling gives patients new rights to seek treatment either at home or abroad. This ruling will have far-reaching consequences as it puts pressure on the Government to pay for treatment anywhere within Europe.

With the health secretary Alan Milburn climbing down and accepting that the NHS will pay for this treatment, comes the acknowledgement of the failure of the NHS to provide adequate facilities here.

Europe offers cheaper and faster treatment and France, Germany and Belgium lead the way. But . . .

If patients "hop" across the Channel, who takes the responsibility to monitor the quality of their treatment? Who will be there if things go wrong?

How can the patient's GP communicate and offer continuity of care? When they are distressed, patients want their loved ones around.

What mechanism will be implemented to transport these people, particularly if complications delay their recovery?

Continued under-investment in the NHS by successive governments is the cause of today's problems. There has been a total lack of vision regarding the ageing population and their needs, and a lack of appreciation about demand in health care.

Also, we have tolerated under-investment in the training of nurses and doctors and now we cannot recruit them. Only this week the Government has advertised for doctors from all over Europe.

So now the Government wants to run our NHS on imported doctors and exported patients.

This is not a satisfactory state of affairs. We are already suffering from under-investment and "exporting" patients will starve the NHS of the further investment needed to build long-term facilities in our hospitals.

If the community wants acceptable health care then it must make its feelings known to the politicians who have a mandate for the welfare of the members of that community.

DR KUMAR KOTEGAONKAR,

general practitioner.