A WOMAN from Stroud has won a campaign to ensure pensioners who retire to France are given access to the NHS back in the UK.

Jane Williamson, who now lives near Cluny in Southern Burgundy, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 - a type which does not show up on mammograms or ultrasounds.

Consequently she was misdiagnosed by GPs twice and it was only after a deep biopsy that her cancer was found.

From that point on Jane was advised to undertake a special type of check up.

When she moved to France, she tried to find the same treatment that she had in the UK without success.

On her return to Gloucestershire for a holiday she applied for the same treatment again at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

“Because I had moved to the French health system I had to get a form from them to allow me to have the treatment I needed in UK.

“But I was refused point blank solely on the grounds that I was a British retiree within the French health system and had no right to return to UK for treatment I could not find in France.”

Jane added: “This was a misinterpretation of the European Regulations by the French authorities governing access to cross-border health care.

“I realised that this meant that all British retirees living in France would be treated in the same way.”

With the help of the then MEP Sir Graham Watson, Jane was able to take the matter to the European Commission.

Eventually independent Social Policy consultant, Samia Badani of New Europeans started lobbying the UK Department of Health and the French Health Authorities.

As a result the law was changed and the developments mean that from Monday, April 6, pensioners living in Europe can come back to the UK and access the NHS on the same basis as UK residents without the need to obtain any kind of authorisation from their country of residence.

Commenting on the breakthrough, Jane a former director for an IT and management company said: “I could not possibly think that I would have to take on both the French and UK governments just because I had become a retiree and exercised my legal right to live in another EU country.”