Call to clarify EU treatment rules

The European Commission must clarify the basis for mental health service users to travel abroad for treatment, according to a member of the European Parliament.

John Bowis, Conservative MEP for London, said service users could be treated in other European Union member states if, for instance, there were long waiting lists in their home countries, but said rules for patient mobility needed to be established.

Bowis was speaking at the launch of a report by the parliament’s health committee in response to an EC green paper that found mental health services in Europe were “seriously under-funded”.