They make it sound as if one plus the other is the answer, not just the best answer they have but the full answer for me, the patient.

58. Recognises that there is a demand for properly regulated, high-quality health and pharmaceutical cross-border services and for cooperation and the exchange of scientific and technological experience between highly specialised medical centres; points out, however, that surveys show that most people would prefer to receive high quality treatment near to where they live; considers that, in order to provide the most appropriate legislative response, the Commission should first conduct an exhaustive study firstly of the real need for patient mobility and second ...[+++]ly of the patients to which such mobility could apply, while assessing the impact of that mobility on health systems;

I shall merely reiterate the point that this is an extremely promising area of research and medicine, offering real solutions for people with third-degree burns, patients suffering from venous ulcers, diabetes, hereditary diseases and cardiovascular diseases, offering hope, too, for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and offering a solution finally, one day perhaps, to the tragic shortage of organs, which results in the deaths each year in Europe of thousands of patients awaiting donations.

For hospital care in another Member State, prior authorisation may be required but must be granted if the care concerned would normally be reimbursed in the home Member State but cannot be delivered there within a time limit which is medically justifiable, taking into account the patient's current state of health and the probable cause of the illness. Moreover, a comprehensive strategy for addressing patient mobility and healthcare developments in Europe is due to be outlined in a Communication to be issued by the Commission in Spring 2004, setting out proposals responding to the recommendations made by a High Level Group on Patient Mobi ...[+++]lity (see IP/03/1678).

CVH is a virtual site for patients to connect with each other, for family members to seek support, for answers from a qualified doctor or nurse, for information for physicians and nurses themselves, and for physicians to have access to a specialist in palliative care.

Another interesting anomaly on the form is the structure for the subjective responses for these two questions: “Can your patient feed or dress himself or herself?” and “Can your patient perceive, think, and remember?” For some reason or other, the feeding and dressing responses are separated.