Complications and costs to the UK National Health Service due to outward medical tourism for elective surgery: a rapid review.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Outward medical tourism is when people seek medical treatment in a different country to the one they live in. We aimed to identify all studies that describe the impact on the UK National Health Service (NHS) of patients who require treatment due to outward medical tourism for elective surgery and report on complications, costs and benefits.

Design

A rapid literature review. Medical and grey literature databases were searched, limited to literature published between 2012 and 2024.

Selection criteria

Studies published in the English language, conducted in any NHS setting, describing complications, costs or benefits due to outward medical tourism for elective surgery were included. We excluded emergency and semi-urgent surgery, dental and transplant surgery, c

SUBMITTER: England C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12815047 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature