Guides
Treatment abroad guides: waits, costs and the decision to go
These treatment abroad guides answer the questions that come before and after the price: how long the wait at home really is, whether the saving survives a second trip, when you can fly after surgery, and who pays if something goes wrong. Each one uses the same ledger as the rest of the site, so a price or a waiting time quoted in a guide matches the procedure and country pages, and every figure links to the page we read it on.
We do not sell treatment, take commissions or rank clinics. Where official sources disagree or do not answer a question, the guide says so rather than filling the gap.
Deciding whether to go
When paying abroad saves money once travel and a second trip are added, and when the saving is small, using the prices clinics publish themselves.
- Is it worth going abroad for dental implants? Prices, trips and risks compared
Is it worth going abroad for dental implants? Published one-tooth prices abroad vs the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US, the second trip, and what can go wrong.
- Is medical tourism safe?
What the NHS, the UK Foreign Office, the CDC and Canada advise, in their words
- Medical tourism statistics
Official counts of people travelling for treatment: UK, Korea, Turkey
Waiting times at home
How long the public systems in the UK, Canada and Ireland make people wait, read from their own statistics, and what the numbers do and do not measure.
- Waiting times and self-pay prices at home
Every official waiting figure we use, with its source
Before, during and after the trip
Flying after surgery, how many days to stay, and what to bring home so your doctor can carry on, from health-service and regulator guidance.
- Bring your results home
Reports, DICOM images and implant details your doctor will need
Insurance and public funding
What the NHS, the HSE, provincial plans and travel insurance will and will not pay for when treatment happens abroad.
- Medical tourism insurance
Why travel insurance and EHIC or GHIC usually do not cover planned treatment
- Will the NHS pay for treatment abroad?
The S2 route and the EU directive route
- Will the HSE pay for treatment abroad?
Treatment Abroad Scheme and the Cross-Border Directive
Prices and waits by treatment
The guides explain; the comparison pages hold the numbers. Start from a treatment such as dental implants abroad, hip replacement abroad or cataract surgery abroad, from all countries side by side, or from how we check prices.