How much does it cost to go to the UK to see a doctor?
2020-07-24
When it comes to going abroad to see a doctor, the public generally think that this is the exclusive right of the rich. For this reason, when some ordinary families suffer from cancer, they dare not even think of seeing a doctor abroad. Cost is like a high threshold, blocking patients who desire to receive high-quality medical services abroad. But in fact, even if they are both medically developed countries, the cost of treatment in different countries varies greatly. In particular, the United Kingdom is known for its advanced level of cancer treatment and very affordable costs. It is a "cost-effective" destination for medical treatment abroad, attracting a large number of patients from all over the world every year.
According to the "Cancer Survival Rate" published by Cancer Research UK, the 10-year cancer survival rate in the UK is 49.8%; in contrast, the "2003-15 Cancer Survival Rate Changes in China" published in The Lancet-Global Health It shows that the 5-year survival rate of cancer in China is only 40.5%.
The difference is not only close to 10%, but also the patient survival period of up to 5 years.
So, how much does it cost to see a doctor in the UK? Today, I will give you a detailed introduction to the cost of cancer treatment in the UK and where the money will be spent.
1. Visa processing fees
Chinese patients need to apply for a medical visa to see a doctor in the UK. If you have not applied for a UK visa, it is recommended to apply for a visa according to the true purpose of entry when you first visit the UK. If the visa materials are false, or the purpose of entry does not match the purpose of the visa application, it may affect subsequent visa applications and entry into the UK.
The UK medical visa is one of the standard visit visas. The patient’s visa is usually valid for 6 months, and the patient’s family members who apply together are usually valid for 2 years. Don’t worry if you need to stay for more than 6 months. You can apply for an extension of stay with the UK Immigration Service.
Generally speaking, the cost of a standard visit visa is 95 pounds (currently about 840 yuan), and the visa is usually issued within 15 working days.
However, if you need an expedited visa, you need to pay an expedited fee. For example, if a visa is issued within 5 working days, in addition to the basic visa fee, an expedited fee of RMB 2051 must be paid; if it is a super priority visa, an expedited fee of RMB 8915 must be paid.
Note: The actual cost should be based on the cost given on the official website of the British visa at the time of the visa and the real-time exchange rate at the time of application.
2. The cost of round-trip air tickets
For Chinese cancer patients to seek medical treatment in the UK, more of them will choose London, UK. Because the Royal Marsden Cancer Center, known as one of the three largest cancer centers in the world, is located in London.
Due to the low and peak seasons, the cost of domestic air tickets to the UK at different times is actually quite different. For example, from Beijing to London, in April 2019, a cheap single round trip in economy class only costs 5767 yuan, but in the peak season, the airfare will increase significantly. In short, if it is not the peak season, the average round-trip ticket cost for a single person is about 6000-8000 yuan.
3. Local living expenses
The cost of living in the UK is mainly spent on accommodation and meals.
01Accommodation fees
Generally speaking, most cancer patients who come to the UK for treatment will go to the Royal Marsden Cancer Center, and most children patients choose the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital (GOSH). In order to facilitate medical treatment, they often choose serviced apartments near the hospital.
Since the hospital is located in the city center (equivalent to Beijing's second ring road), the rent for surrounding serviced apartments (one bedroom and one living room, cooking) is about 130-230 GBP/day; but if you can accept the hospital for half an hour The rent cost can be reduced by half.
In addition, the rent will fluctuate depending on the low and peak seasons. Generally speaking, from April to October each year is the peak tourist season in London, and November to March is the off-season. It should be noted that during the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays, rents may rise counter-seasonally.
02 meal expenses
Regarding three meals a day, most Chinese people may not have a high degree of preference for British meals. Therefore, patients treated in the UK and accompanying family members will generally consider cooking at home, or occasionally going to Chinatown restaurants to improve their meals. If you go to the supermarket to buy ingredients to cook, the cost is not high.
For example, buying a 2.27 liter bucket of whole milk on the APP of a TESCO supermarket in London costs 1.5 pounds, which is RMB 13 yuan2; buying a whole chicken of 2 and a half to 3 pounds costs 2.95 pounds , Equivalent to RMB 25 9; half a catty more than half a catty beef steak, it costs 3.55 pounds, equivalent to RMB 31 2...... This price is really very conscience.
In the UK, meat, milk, eggs, bread, potatoes, tomatoes and other daily necessities are not expensive. Vegetables and fruits are more expensive. But even so, the cost of buying meat and vegetables for cooking every week , 70 pounds per person is almost the same.
Local Chinese supermarkets in London will be more expensive than British supermarkets.
4. Hospital treatment costs
When going to the UK to see a doctor, medical expenses account for a higher proportion. However, due to different treatment options, the costs involved will vary greatly. Therefore, the cost of each patient to the UK for cancer treatment is different. Only the average number of most patients can be estimated based on the previous service data of the Shengnuo family.
Let's look at a case first.
Patient: Ms. A
Type of disease: left breast cancer with lymph node metastasis
Visiting hospital: Royal Marsden Cancer Center
After treatment:
In June 2018, Ms. A was diagnosed with invasive cancer with mucus secretion in China, and there was metastasis in the axillary lymph nodes, and she underwent chemotherapy for a period of time as directed by the doctor.
In October 2018, with the assistance of the Shengnuo family, Ms. A went through the necessary procedures and went to the UK to meet the breast cancer specialist from Royal Marsden. After a series of inspections such as mammography, PET-CT, pathology, etc., Ms. A underwent left breast total resection + underarm lymph node dissection in the UK.
After the operation, Ms. A returned to China and rested for about 1 month, and came to the UK again to start postoperative adjuvant treatment: first 12 times of chemotherapy (paclitaxel once a week), 16 times of radiotherapy after 3-4 weeks of rest.
In May 2019, Ms. A completed all treatments and returned to China. After that, it is only necessary to perform endocrine therapy in China to prevent recurrence in accordance with the requirements of British doctors.
She went to the UK for treatment twice, and Ms. A's treatment in the UK cost a total of more than 60,000 pounds, equivalent to more than 500,000 yuan.
This fee may be higher than domestically, and there is no way to reimburse it. However, the hospital where Ms. A treats is one of the world’s leading medical care and hospital reputation. The Royal Marsden Cancer Center where even members of the British royal family are treated. Compared with other hospitals of the same level in Europe and America, the cost is actually Not high.
Generally speaking, if certain therapies (such as bone marrow transplantation, CAR-T, immune checkpoint inhibitors, etc.) are not used, the average medical cost of treating cancer in the UK is only about 600,000 yuan.
Of course, some treatment options are particularly complicated, more expensive drugs/technologies are frequently used, and patients who need to stay in the UK for a long time will cost more.
For example, an advanced patient with right lung adenocarcinoma with liver metastases and metastases on the spine has been treated at the Royal Marsden Cancer Center for about 2 years since the first diagnosis on July 4, 2017. The specific treatment content is as follows:
Volume arc intensity-modulated radiotherapy (VMAT) of lungs and lymph nodes 20 times
Cyber knife treatment on the liver (Cyber knife) 5 times
Cyberknife on the spine 3 times
Whole brain radiotherapy 6 times
Pemetrexed, carboplatin chemotherapy
Targeted drug trastuzumab (Herceptin)
Afatinib
Anti-angiogenic drug Bevacizumab (Avastin)
Bone transfer needle denosumab (denosumab)
Coupled with the review (PET-CT, MRI, etc.) every two months, the patient’s 2-year medical expenses totalled 300,000 pounds.
Of course, this is a special case of higher costs, and few patients need to be treated abroad for such a long time.
Finally, I will give you a summary of the average overall cost of treatment in the UK, and friends who are interested can collect it!
PS: The Shengnuo family will attend the 15th Shanghai International Medical Tourism Exhibition to be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on November 10-12, 2020. If you want to inquire about more matters related to going abroad for medical treatment, you can go to the exhibition site to discuss Oh.
