Post-transition Brexit puts cross-border healthcare in peril

Some 5,000 patients travel North annually under the EU cross-border healthcare scheme – and no one seems to know if this will continue after January 1

Up to 5,000 people travel every year from the Republic to the North for heavily subsidised treatment to avoid long waiting lists for procedures in their own hospitals.

The head of Northern Ireland’s largest private hospital has warned that patients from the Republic are panicking due to the prospect of their cross-border surgeries being permanently halted.

Up to 5,000 people travel every year from the Republic to the North for heavily subsidised treatment to avoid long waiting lists for procedures in their own hospitals. The costs are covered under the EU’s cross-border healthcare scheme.

Mark Regan, the chief executive of Kingsbridge Private Hospital ...