When making decisions about healthcare, NHS patients are free to choose where they are treated based on what matters most to them, whether that is how far to travel, how long to wait, or how the provider is rated by other patients and the health and care regulator.
For Youssef, aged 52, that means being referred to a gastroenterologist who can see him the quickest to consider removing his gallbladder after he attended an appointment with his GP following an episode of stomach pains.