When there are a substantial number of people
from one country or group of countries, rather than them going overseas to get
treatment, dentists and others have been setting up clinics in the UK to target
that market. This has happened to Hungarian dental clinics, and all types of
clinics for Poles.

These clinics may start off as targeting one
nationality but soon their fame as low cost but efficient and friendly clinics
means they get people of all nationalities.

Some Hungarian dentists and businessmen realized
that patients are reluctant to travel for medical treatment, especially if they
had not yet met their dentist. Rather than waiting for patients to come to them
they decided to go to the patients and set up clinics in the UK. Vital Europe
were one of the first clinics to offer treatment in the UK and Hungary and say
that people are a lot more likely to travel if they can have a consultation
carried out at home. These clinics give patients the option to have treatment
in the UK, in Hungary or a combination of both.

Since 2007, private Polish medical clinics
have sprung up all over the UK; there are at least 20 in London, they exist in
Manchester, Reading, Bristol and Glasgow. Wherever there is a Polish community,
there is a private clinic.

My Medyk was launched in 2008 and has doctors
split across the sites at Ealing Broadway and Hanger Lane. Of its 30,000
patients, 70% are Polish speaking.
Some prefer to see Polish-speaking doctors,
although many who use the private clinics speak excellent English. More simply
want better customer service than British GPs tend to provide, with their brief
consultations and frustrating systems for booking appointments. In Poland, as
in much of continental Europe, GPs do not act as gatekeepers. Patients book
appointments directly with specialists, who also perform procedures that would
be classed as outpatient services in the UK.

The clinics charge fixed fees, which are
published on their websites, for consultations and treatments. This means that
they rely on regular customers for revenue, and need to treat them well if they
are to retain them.

Green Surgery in London and Manchester has
Slovaks, Hungarians, and Portuguese on its books. Whereas the Green Surgery
caters mainly to professionals, My Medyk’s patients come from a broader range
of backgrounds. Clinics tend to open longer than most private clinics and offer
a far wider range of services than GPs.

My Medyk in April 2014 began offering
specialist eye care, in co-operation with a specialist eye clinic in Poland–
Oftalmika. Instead of sending patients to Poland, the specialists fly regularly
from Poland to London to treat patients in the UK.