Warning over Medical and Dental Tourism

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More than 50,000 people leave the UK to have medical or dental treatment abroad every year, however, a consultant surgeon has warned that patients must do extensive research in order to avoid pitfalls.

In the last five years, the number of patients choosing to have treatment abroad has increased considerably and surgeon, Mike Parker, believes that patients must be aware of the potential complications associated with travelling abroad. Mr Parker said that he accepts that there are several excellent clinics abroad and does not object to people travelling to have treatment overseas, however, he said that there are potential problems that tourists should be aware of.

Mr Parker said that the main problem is a lack of continuous care once the patient has returned to the UK, which can be a serious and costly problem if complications arise. If a patient develops an infection, for example, they will either have to find a doctor in the UK to treat them or go abroad again, which may not be advisable.

Mr Parker said that some patients get carried away with the prospect of going abroad and saving lots of money and forget that procedures do go wrong sometimes and he urges patients considering having treatment overseas to spend time doing research before they commit to treatment.

A 2007 investigation by Which? revealed that 57 percent of UK dental and medical tourists were happy with the service they received, but 18 percent of people suffered complications.

Keith Pollard, managing director of treatmentabroad.com, said the research shows that patient satisfaction rates are much higher than they were in 2007.

 

Join this Discussion

April 19th, 2012 at 08:47 PM
Mike Says :

I totaly agree with Mr Parker’s comments that there are excellent clinics overseas but the potential problems lay within the aftercare treatments. Companies offer the same low cost dentistry within the UK, without any need to travel overseas by bringing in the dentists from overseas.

April 19th, 2012 at 08:47 PM
James Says :

I too agree.
Dental travelling is a serious commitment. Although some dental clinics abroad offer local (UK) followup, they’re not so easy to spot on google (we have to open each clinic website and even then, this info is not easy to dig out from the site itself).
Cheers
James

May 5th, 2012 at 08:47 PM
connie carnwath Says :

hi mike can u tell me wot dentist within the uk offer the same prices as clinics abroad im at why witts end ov looking for as cosmetic dentist in thh uk that can offer these prices ideally i would love to have my cosmetic dentisry carried out in my own country thanks