Sussex NHS patients will be among the first in Britain to be sent to Europe for treatment.

Health Secretary Alan Milburn announced the pilot scheme last night.

NHS patients for low-risk procedures - such as cataract surgery or joint replacements - will be offered a chance of speedier treatment in hospitals elsewhere in the European Union.

He said West Sussex would be a "test bed" for the new arrangements.

The move follows a European Court of Justice ruling in July that individual patients have the right to be referred elsewhere in the EU if they cannot receive treatment without "undue delay" in their home country.

Mr Milburn said following the test runs, "robust guidance" would be issued to other authorities and healthcare trusts.

He said: "Health authorities and primary care trusts, when commissioning services from other European countries, have to ensure the highest clinical standards and best value for the NHS."

Portsmouth, East Kent and East Surrey will also be involved in the pilot scheme.

Mr Milburn said: "The Government's top priority is to ensure patients receive high quality treatment when they need it."

West Sussex Health Authority has a poor record when it comes to waiting lists. More than 18,000 people are currently awaiting treatment.

The National Audit Office found the authority had the worst record in England for keeping patients waiting, with 37 per cent on the list for six months or more.

This year it was revealed that Don Higgins, 77, from Crawley, had a cataract operation in Germany after being told he would have to wait for more than a year to have the operation at Crawley Hospital.

West Worthing Conservative MP Peter Bottomley said: "I have no objection in principle to patients being sent abroad for treatment but I am worried about the message it will send to my constituents.

"Why should people in West Sussex have to go abroad when there are hospitals which treat them here?"