Reasons Not To Travel Abroad For Treatment

[LadaE]

Hi there,

I've been dealing with medical tourism for 5 years now and would like to push my limits a little bit in this area. Therefore, I would appreciate if you could specify the reasons of why you'd rather not travel abroad for treatment? Your fears, doubts, stereotypes?

Thanks so much in advance.

[fiction-factory]

I am glad we have helped you add this to your knowledge of health tourism with this information about the NHS .

[ummmm]

It's not actually free though. Tax payers pay for it.

[fiction-factory]

Yes- I said it is 'free', although of course for many it is also free (children , non taxpayers, etc)

[stuey]

I was under the impression that people from abroad traveled to the UK in order to get "free" service under the NHS.

[Old_Geezer]

Just the unknown. I've had a lifetime of trusting the NHS and even though it has it's faults I feel I know enough to be comfortable with it. Whereas a foreign country may have any standard, or even a decent one for the State and less monitoring/control of individual practice maybe ? How would I know. The papers sometimes do articles on horror stories. If you already have experience you are in a better position to tell the rest of us.

[LadaE]

As far as my personal experience is concerned, most UK citizens prefer traveling abroad for dental implants opting for Baltic countries. Having no NHS coverage for this particular type of dental procedure, they pay around £550 per implant+abutment. Another procedure that people residing in the UK seek abroad is cosmetic surgery as NHS mostly covers reconstructive one (for example, after cancer surgery). In this case, they choose Hungary or Lithuania (£1,100 against £3,300). Some pick Thailand, especially during their vacation.

[Khandro]

In the private sector, a friend had a pair of state of the art hearing aids fitted in Poland much cheaper than they would have been in the UK.

[TWR]

Ladae, I would never travel abroad for any sort of treatment, that said it may be ok for some until something goes wrong, where does that person go then? I'll give one Guess!.

[Canary42]

I would never travel abroad for treatment.

The reason ?

A close friend had hip replacement in Spain and died from "post-operative complications".

[LadaE]

Very sorry to hear that. Normally, personal experience is what our choices and decisions are normally based on.

[trt]

## Another procedure that people residing in the UK seek abroad is cosmetic surgery as NHS mostly covers reconstructive one (for example, after cancer surgery). In this case, they choose Hungary or Lithuania (£1,100 against £3,300). Some pick Thailand, especially during their vacation. ##

If you Google ''cosmetic surgery gone wrong abroad'' you will see why people shouldn't go abroad.

[gness]

Welcome, LadaE......when I have lived or traveled abroad the treatment I've received has been far superior to that offered by the NHS so I would consider medical tourism.....after much research.....

If I was happy with my research I can't think of a reason not to travel abroad for treatment.

[jno]

dentistry isn't free here; it's cheapish for standard procedures, but complicated stuff is much cheaper abroad. There are still reasons for having it done here, though, including the possible need for repeat visits.

[Sqad]

Canary

"post-operative complications".

That is a not an uncommon cause of death.........anywhere in the world.

[Mosaic]

I wouldn't choose treatment abroad for the same reason I wouldn't buy an expensive object or garment abroad. It's a long way to go, and expensive, if you need to take the goods back.
I agree that dentist services have been pretty well jiggered on the NHS, but possibly due to the nature of where we live, we have an excellent dentist with a realistic monthly plan.

[fiction-factory]

Thanks for trying to clarify that Bouncer - although I'm not sure where I gave the impression that I thought that our doctors and nurses give their time for free

[Auxarcs]

'Push your limits'? Health care is about your well being, your quality of life, maybe your life period. Its not a sport or a game you 'push your limits' in.! Here in the USA medical care is not free and since the advent of the new health care insurance system under Obama insurance rates have sky rocketed. So sometimes people choose to have expensive proceedures done in another country where its not as expensive.

[LadaE]

Auxarcs

Thanks for your comment. Just a quick clarification. As I work with international patients, by "pushing my limits" here and asking about reasons why someone wouldn't travel abroad for treatment, I'm increasing my awareness about how people see medical travel. So far, it has been more than useful to read various opinions here.

[ummmm]

I used to do the payroll for a company that sent patients abroad for surgery, mainly joint replacements, because the waiting list on the NHS was too long. The NHS footed the bill!