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IN PHOTO: A plastic surgeon checks an arm of a patient who is travelling from Australia to Seoul to get a liposuction at the BK DongYang Plastic Surgery Clinic in Seoul October 4, 2011. It is one of Asia's fastest growing industries and shows no signs of losing steam even as the global economy wobbles. Travelling abroad for medical treatment is now a multi-billion dollar business. The rise of an affluent class in China, and an infatuation with so-called Hallyu, or Korean Wave, culture from pop music to drama have spurred a sharp growth in South Korean medical tourism, mainly in the field of cosmetic surgery. To match Feature. MEDICAL/TOURISM REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA

An old woman from South Australia, who has injured her legs badly, had reportedly been shifted to a hospital almost 600 kilometres away for surgery after hospitals in her vicinity failed to accommodate her. 70-year-old, Marilyn Hicks and her family run a pub at Ardrossan in South Australia. Mrs. Hicks broke bones in both her legs when was vacuuming at work; she said the heavy-duty vacuum cleaner required emptying, so she took it outside. All she remembered was lifting the vacuum up and then she tripped two steps down.

The accident was so damaging that she required fixing a steel plate in her left leg. However, the hospital where she was undergoing treatments initially informed Mrs. Hicks that she would be transferred to Mount Gambier for the recommended surgery.

According to Mrs. Hicks, the staff at Maitland Hospital told her they have tried the nearby facilities in Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Adelaide, in vain.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hicks did admit that the public health system had treated her nicely, but her only concern remained the cost of surgery. "I hate to think how much it cost, both taxpayers and in terms of frustrations to the family," she said.

Opposition Health spokesman Stephen Wade described the incident as Labor mismanagement. "If you manage the system properly in the first place, you don't have to airlift somebody at the cost of $1,500, 500 kilometres away," Mr. Wade said. "It's a bizarre misunderstanding of what it takes to run a good health system," he added.

However, Country Health SA chief Rebecca Graham informed that Mount Gambier was the best choice Mrs. Hicks's given the circumstances, besides the hospitals in Adelaide were not free when she required medical attention immediately.

In fact, Ms. Graham said, she is happy the way the hospital staff worked along with RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) to offer the best medical attention to the patient.

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