Peta Bee on the most popular destinations in medical tourism
Heart bypass
Where: India
Cost: £4,800
UK equivalent: £15,000-£19,000
Advantages: The NHS wait for a heart bypass can be up to six months. India has a large pool of well-qualified doctors and its medical tourism industry is booming. There has been a £80m investment in the Indian private healthcare sector over the past eight years. Packages designed to attract wealthy foreign patients include airport-to-hospital car service, in-room internet access and private chefs. Another trend is to combine surgery in India with a trip to the Taj Mahal or a yoga holiday.
Selected link: www.tajmedicalgroup.co.uk
Hip replacement
Where: France
Cost: £12,700 for both hips
UK equivalent: £19,000
Advantages: Waiting lists are up to a year on the NHS and private hospitals charge as much as £9,500 for just one hip. The French healthcare system is highly regarded. Travel is included, as are pre-op assessments and tests, all surgery-related costs, consultants’ fees, anaesthetists’ fees and hospital food. Keith Smith, director of People Logistics, a UK company that specialises in sending patients to France, says, “Most people are walking unaided by the time they come out of the hospital. We drive patients to and from France through the Channel tunnel, because it’s not a good idea to fly soon after surgery.”
Selected link: www.people-logistics.com
Cataract surgery
Where: Germany
Cost: £1,300
UK equivalent: £2,600
Advantages: Germany is increasingly popular because it is easy and cheap to get to. Its hospitals offer high standards and the latest technology and comfort (expect polished marble and chandeliers in some) as well as highly qualified staff, many of whom are recruited from the NHS. There are virtually no waiting times, and the risk of infections, such as MRSA, is low. Consultants will liaise with UK-based doctors for follow-up appointments in many cases. Flights and hotel accommodation are generally included in the package, although for some smaller operations an outpatient service is available. Interpreters, individual reception at airport and patient transport are available at extra cost.
Selected link: www.germanmedicine.net
Dental treatment
Where: Hungary
Cost: X-rays are free. Root canal treatment (tooth with one root canal) is £60; tooth extraction £30
UK equivalent: X-rays £40; root canal treatment £60; Tooth extraction £90.
Advantages: Hungary is the dental capital of Europe. A recent report in the International Journal of Health Geographics used a traffic-light system to show areas with the fewest dentists. England and Wales were bathed in red with fewer than four NHS dentists per 100,000, lagging behind Poland and the United States. Compare those figures with Sopron, a small town tucked into the western Transdanubian region of Hungary, where there is a dentist for every 80 inhabitants. Hungary’s dentists are far from back-street practices where you risk your molars being extracted with a pick-axe. Many are situated in the annexes of exclusive hotels and have several fully equipped treatment rooms, x-ray facilities and sophisticated implantology equipment.
Selected links: www.diamantdent.com; www.dentalpannonia.com – the site is in Hungarian and German only, but some dentists and receptionists speak English
Total knee replacement
Where: Belgium
Cost: £6,500
UK equivalent: £10,300
Advantages: In a recent study by the World Markets Research Centre (a leading provider of independent business analyses), Belgium ranked top for medical purposes out of 175 countries, not least because secondary infection rates average less than 0.5% compared with around 10% in the UK. All doctors are trained for a minimum of seven years and specialists for 12 years. Getting there is easy by Eurostar and costs from £59. Some hospital packages will arrange accommodation for you, but, generally, nearby hotels are available from £50 a night.
Selected link: www.privatehealth.co.uk
Before you go
1 Budget for the cost of flights if they are not included. Travel to Europe is obviously much cheaper than Singapore or India.
2 Think about how long you will need to stay and how much accommodation will cost if you can’t fly home for weeks after an operation.
3 Check your surgeon’s qualifications and whether action has ever been taken against him or her by the country’s equivalent of the General Medical Council.
4 Consider whether language will be an issue and whether translators are available.
5 Remember that dining abroad can present a challenge for sensitive teeth and digestive systems, so you may be wise to pack some comfort foods.
6 Be careful. If something goes wrong and you can’t speak the language and are far away from home, be sure there are procedures in place to bail you out.
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