| Malta as part of the British Empire was a | | | | thought of nations, as they have built a |
| strategic naval outpost in the Mediterranean | | | | reputation upon good service and successful |
| Sea. For many years it provided hospital | | | | operations. |
| services to sailors in the Royal Navy and | | | | |
| helped ensure that British supremacy in the | | | | The National Health Service waiting lists are |
| Mediterranean sphere of influence was upheld. | | | | still high for such routine operations as |
| Today this long tradition of British hospital | | | | joint replacements and for those waiting, |
| patients in Malta is returning; as medical | | | | life can be painful and mobility can be a |
| tourism increasingly becomes an option for | | | | constant struggle. The speed and efficiency |
| British citizens. | | | | of hospital services in Malta offer a valid |
| | | | alternative for those who simply cannot wait. |
| Medical tourism is not a new idea; the | | | | As well as joint replacement operations |
| ancient Greeks visited a territory called | | | | dental hospitals in Malta will also |
| Epidauria; fabled as the sanctuary of | | | | experience an influx of patients as the costs |
| Askelepios, the healing god. The spa towns | | | | of major dental work have reached an all time |
| dotted all over Europe can also be seen as | | | | high in the UK. |
| early examples of the medical tourism | | | | |
| industry. The industry has become popular of | | | | With Malta being a short three hour flight |
| late and in Malta, hospital executives are | | | | from the UK hospital staff are sure to be |
| trying to cash in on the global increase in | | | | busy. For some the lure of shorter waiting |
| medical tourists. | | | | times will be great; twinned with the chance |
| | | | to recuperate in the warm Mediterranean sun, |
| The reason medical tourism is experiencing a | | | | patients will be enticed in large numbers. |
| global increase is due to the lengthy waiting | | | | The opportunity to holiday in Malta around |
| lists and expense of private medical care in | | | | operations will surely bolster the tourist |
| developed industrial nations. Malta | | | | industry in Malta during the off season. |
| especially, is targeting British nationals | | | | |
| due to the island's close ties with the UK. | | | | As a result of this, Malta has announced a |
| As English is the second language in Malta, | | | | twenty million pound investment to further |
| hospital staffs are expected to provide | | | | promote and develop hospital services on the |
| exceptional medical care to visiting | | | | island. This investment will see a rise in |
| patients. | | | | visitor numbers and with hospital equipment |
| | | | updated should also result in accreditation |
| Operations that are expected to be carried | | | | for medical services by official foreign |
| out were originally limited to cosmetic | | | | bodies. As Malta sits in fifth position in |
| surgery. Hospital executives in Malta are | | | | the World Health Organisation's list of |
| keen to dispel this image of purely cosmetic | | | | health care systems this search for official |
| work in order to infiltrate the huge market | | | | accreditation should not pose any major |
| of joint replacements and dental surgery. | | | | difficulties. |
| Currently the waiting time for a hip | | | | |
| replacement in a UK hospital can be as much | | | | International accreditation for Maltese |
| as eighteen months; it is believed in Malta | | | | hospital services will bring increasing |
| this period is a matter of weeks. | | | | numbers of medical tourists to the island. As |
| | | | waiting times and the cost of private medical |
| Hospital staffs in Malta are trying to carve | | | | care skyrocket in industrialised nations this |
| out a niche in an already swollen market. | | | | is surely an astute move by hospital |
| India, Bangkok and Hong Kong are established | | | | executives. As long as operations are |
| players in the medical tourism industry with | | | | successful there is no reason why medical |
| visitors coming from a number of | | | | tourism should not become a major element of |
| industrialised nations. Malta will be hard | | | | the economy in Malta. |
| pushed to take business away from these well | | | | |