Getting treatment abroad Our investigation
A Which? investigation uncovered some worrying issues with health tourism companies. Although many patients are given comprehensive information about procedures, we found that some companies can disguise the risks of getting medical treatment abroad and confuse patients about procedures and prices.
We surveyed former patients and phoned companies ourselves to find out about their experience.
We found some poor examples of advice given over the phone
Company advice
In December 2007, our researchers phoned ten companies, posing as potential patients.
The advice given was mixed - some patients were given good, comprehensive advice, and others were misled about their treatment.
One researcher was told by a company director that a knee replacement wasn’t a risky procedure and he wouldn’t need to see anyone medically qualified when he got home – even though all cases should be reviewed and around half need physiotherapy later.
Another researcher asking about dental implants, however, was given comprehensive information, clear drawings, explanations of treatment and details of clinicians' qualifications.
Patient choices
When we surveyed almost 300 members of the British public who had treatment overseas in the past five years, almost half had undergone dental work.
| Most popular overseas treatment in our survey | |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Percentage of respondents |
| Dentistry |  48% |
| Cosmetic surgery | 28% |
| Other | 11% |
| Orthopaedic surgery | 8% |
| Fertility treatment | 4% |
When asked why they travelled, 64% said cost was the deciding factor, and 36% chose to travel abroad rather than wait for NHS treatment. 38% said that they went overseas so they could combine their treatment with a holiday.
The pitfalls
While 57% of respondents said they were very satisfied with their treatment, 18% experienced problems. Some described infections and other problems, including ‘my tummy tuck that went septic’ and liposuction leading to ‘my stomach leaking cellulite’.
Patients' research
We found that before signing up, 30% of those surveyed didn’t query qualifications, and 23% didn’t ask questions about the clinic.
Sixty per cent of those we surveyed did not have a UK consultation, and 18 per cent weren’t even asked about their medical history.
Aftercare
32% of those surveyed paid for follow-up care with their provider, and 30% with a different company. And 26% told us they hadn’t had the follow-up care they needed.
Which? health campaigner Kate Webb says: ‘Most people are unlikely to have problems, but it’s hard to get the information you need to make the right choices.
‘Shop around until all of your questions are answered, use UK health professionals to check information, and don’t assume you’ll have a safety net if things go wrong.'
