Would you go to Turkey for teeth work, or Belgium for a boob job?
I was in constant pain: but I couldn't afford a UK operation
Our patient Anita Jennings travelled to Belgium (Singelbergclinic) for a breast reduction.
The 25-year-old had been asking for the NHS surgery because of constant back and neck pain for more than seven years. She couldn’t afford the £6,000 cost to have it done privately in the UK. She has gone from a 34HH (right) to a 34E (top).
‘I hated how I looked and was always in pain,’ she says. ‘I did a lot of research and chose Belgium as I could travel by train.’
Anita, a hairdresser from Billericay, Essex, arranged the trip using advice site Treatment Abroad and paid £3,100 for surgery and £800 on travel and a hotel for her and her boyfriend — saving £2,100.
‘It meant I didn’t feel pressurised
What are the savings?
Savings can be substantial. More than seven in every ten patients saved over £2,000 even after additional costs of travel and accommodation have been taken into account. More than one in ten saves £10,000.
Research for Money Mail reveals someone travelling to Turkey and staying for 15 days for dental treatment would save £4,720 compared with private treatment in the UK.
A couple wanting a cycle of IVF would pay £5,500 privately in the UK but could pay as little as £2,750 for a round trip to Czech Republic — a saving of £2,750.
For more major hip replacement surgery, the savings are even greater.
For those willing to travel long-haul, the £11,000 private cost of treatment in the UK tumbles to £4,535 in India, including travel and a 16-day stay — a £6,465 saving.
Someone travelling to Turkey could save £2,600 on a tummy tuck. But standard travel insurance does not cover people going overseas for medical treatment so any claim, not just medical ones, will be turned down.
There are a handful of specialist policies, such as Medical Travel Shield and P. J. Hayman, which also cover extras such as medical treatment for complications, additional accommodation costs and travel expenses
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