Health Spa News

Looking at brochures, it all looks wonderful.  Sun is shining, handsome doctors and pretty nurses beam out of the literature at you – but ….  it is your health, and if anything happens, it could cost you not only a lotof  money to put right, but even your life.

Medical Tourism is here to stay.  Countries are investing heavily in attracting potential clients, but unless patients take note of the dangers, and insist on checks, there is a danger to anyone going abroad for this type of medical tourism.

Questions to ask

First – what are you going to?  In many countries, there is no official definition of a ‘medical spa’ – so if this is mentioned in promotional literature look for other evidence that this is a genuine medically-run establishment, NOT somewhere for cosmetic surgery only.  In some countries they say they have a ‘medically-qualified professional’ to run the spa – but this can mean the Nurse who gives Botox injections.

In better-regulated countries, such as Italy, a medical spa is defined as an establishment run by qualified doctors, and licenced by the state health service.  If this is so, then you are generally in very good hands.

Ask – ask and ask again before you go.

Your GP should be able to get verification of qualifications.

Or, you can email and ask for qualifications of doctors whom you will be seeing, and most medical spas will respond – except in Germany where state regulates things so that no-one there ask questions, because no-one would be allowed to call themselves Doctor unless they had the qualifications.  This can make it difficult when seeking qualifications, and I have come across this when visiting rehab centres in Germany, where Doctor in charge was horrified that I questioned his qualifications!

You can always send an email to the Ministry of Health, and ask the Tourist Board representative in Britain (go to www.antor.co.uk for list).

And beware in Britain -  our term ‘MediSpa’ is a marketing ploy.  And sadly, if you ‘Google’  medical spa, up will come a list of spa associations specialising mostly in cosmetic procedures, and ‘wellness’;  you might find websites that give you details of what is required by State law, only to find it is concerned with Health and Safety, Zoning laws, local regulations for buildings, but nothing to do with medical background.

So ask and ask questions.  If you find the right place you are really going to do yourself good – but you don’t want to waste your money.

Is Rabies present?

The recent death in Northern Ireland highlighted that this is a deadly killer disease; anyone bitten by a rabid dog will die, unless given preventative vaccine, and we now know rabies can be transferred from one human’s organs to another.

Yet how many medical tourists looking for organ transplants abroad will query if the donor has been tested for rabies?  Even though it has now been discovered that rabies can be transferred this way?

What happens if something goes wrong?

Ask any British GP how many patients return with problems after procedures, from dental work to hip replacements carried out abroad, and they can tell of cases which have to be sorted out by private or NHS doctors in Britain.

If the package offered looks too good to be true – it probably is.

Medical Tourism is now big business, and like all businesses, companies want to make a profit.  Some countries do offer very good value for money;  many cancer patients, such as Kylie Minogue, choose to be treated in France, where post cancer survival rates are far better than in Britain.

Malta is another country where many of the medical staff have been trained in Britain, and top British Consultants work there as they like working with well-trained English-speaking staff.  The Maltese Government is making available £40 million for patients wanting loans for medical treatment.

In your GP’s surgery you may come across the National Association of Primary Care’s backing for a magazine, highlighting treatment options in other countries.  Patients will see these articles and assume treatment abroad will be like a holiday, but as John du Vois, spokesman for AXA PPP Insurance says, “one should go in to this with eyes wide open”.

Currently most tourists going abroad for medical treatment assume going in to hospital will protect them from complications, but travel expert Alan Bowen of AGB Associates comments “most travel insurance policies will almost certainly specifically exclude all forms of medical treatment, if that was the reason for the travel in the first place”.

Problems arise when patients fly to an idyllic destination for treatment, simple procedures go wrong, and the nearest major hospital capable of dealing with an emergency is a long boat or plane ride away. Or undergoing an organ transplant, something goes wrong: Google has pages of examples.

When Kris Shastri of InsureCancer saw a gap in the market for patients who couldn’t access reasonably priced travel insurance, he developed a pioneering insurance risk assessment and underwriting methodology to provide this, and recently has been considering extending travel cover for medical tourism.  He asks searching questions about the names of doctors, clinics or hospitals, and then checks these to ensure the care offered is of the best.  If he refuses you insurance, it is for a good reason.

So before you are seduced by glossy brochures showing patients strolling arm-in-arm with a pretty nurse under palm trees – check if anyone will insure you.  It might save you from making a dreadful mistake.

Medical treatment won’t protect you from other ‘nasties’.

Make sure all your relevant injections and vaccinations are up-to-date.    www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk This is a very efficient website;  I checked for France, and it even recommends vaccination for tick-borne encephalitis (good idea if you go to campsite) which is being extremely thorough.

Medicines

Take an adequate supply (and keep these in hand luggage).  If you have to obtain these from chemist locally, you might have to pay as you probably won’t get NHS funding.  Also, take the prescriptions in case your doctor needs to question anything, or if going to countries such as Dubai you will get officious Customs officials who might threaten to send you to jail if you don’t have this.

Alcohol

Doctors will usually be pleased if you have one glass, but just because you are abroad and the wine is wonderful, DON’T go overboard.  Not only can too much alcohol cause havoc with drugs, but if you fall down or have an accident, today most insurance companies could use that as an excuse for refusing to pay out.

Tell your Insurance Company

the moment anything happens on which you might want to claim.  I thought I was handling my bite from a rabid dog, but when I arrived home in London and called the insurance company, they said they wouldn’t pay out because they hadn’t pre-authorised the treatment.  And Keep Receipts – even from the taxi that takes you to hospital.

EHIC CARD

If you are going to Europe, even if you have private medical insurance, you must also have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).  This is to show you pay taxes and are entitled to NHS treatment, and has to be shown when receiving emergency treatment at most European hospitals.

Frankly, their standards are so much higher than ours in many cases, that you may not realise that you aren’t being treated privately!  The card entitles you to free care, but if you don’t have it, and you have been treated under another country’s national health service, your insurance company either won’t pay, or will bill you for difference.

However, because of this card, you will probably find your medical insurance premium has gone down – or at least kept level.

To get a card you go to www.nhs.uk/ehic  or call 0845 606 2030  or complete an application form available in your local Post Office (if you still have one).

However, you must have private insurance as well – EHIC doesn’t cover things like repatriation if you need to be bought back home, and certain private clinics services, etc.