Medical Tourism Blog

Today we publish an exclusive interview with David Hancock, author of the book on medical tourism 'The Complete Medical Tourist'. David Hancock has been a journalist and writer for more than 30 years working for top papers including the Daily Mirror and the Times. He is the co-author of bestselling books Stilks and A Fighting Chance, and decided to write about medical tourism when he fractured his pelvis and learned the bitter lesson of the National Health Service at first hand. He lives in Highbury, North London. As he mentions in the interview, he was one of the first to write a book on medical tourism. All right, let's get down to the interview.

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Question : I understand that you got interested in medical tourism on account of a broken hip and the associated experience. How long did it take you to write the book? Was it difficult to get a publisher? And how's the sales?

Hancock : It all started when I fell off my bicycle in the Docklands area of London and fractured my pelvis. I was taken to the emergency trauma unit of a local hospital and operated on immediately. But while recovering I kept hearing all these stories about how long other patients had been on the waiting list for orthopaedic operations such as hip and knee replacements. Some for a couple of years or more. Many had contemplated private treatment but the cost in the UK was so high it proved prohibitive. During my pelvic operation I unfortunately contracted an infection which meant I had to undergo a two-stage hip replacement myself. This led me to take a closer look at Britain's National Health Service.

I am a journalist by profession and came across the concept of 'medical tourism'. I found out that for half the price of a private hip operation in the UK a patient could travel under the Channel Tunnel and get it done straight away in Belgium with a saving of around £6,000. I decided to investigate further and find out what was available in other parts of the world.

The book took about six to eight months to write. I had already 'ghost' written two previous books about South London gangsters and so I already had a publisher. The difficulty was getting the publisher to understand the concept of 'medical tourism' and getting him interested in publishing. Before The Complete Medical Tourist was published there had never been a book about medical tourism printed. It was a first and so for the publisher it was a big gamble. Since then both Josef Woodman and Milica Z. Bookman have published their excellent works.

The Complete Medical Tourist was aimed at a UK audience alhtough some of the prices are in American dollars as well as Euros and Sterling. So I was absolutely delighted when it started selling in America as well as Great Britain. I have no accurate sales figures at the moment although the initial print run was several thousands and it is selling steadily


Question : How many countries have you visited in the course of your research for the book? Which ones? Any special incidents that you recall in any of these countries?

Hancock : During my investigations I was especially intrigued by the Apollo Hospital Group in India which boasted state-of-the-art world-class facilities in a country which is usually associated with Third World poverty. I visited the establishment in Chennai, formerly Madras, and found out it was indeed state-of-the-art. I then went to clinics in Belgium and France and visited Hungary to look at their dental facilities. I also got friends around the world to check out several hospitals for further material, and I researched other outlets on the Internet.


Question : Of all the hospitals and countries you visited, which one did you like best, and why?

Hancock : That is difficult to answer because The Complete Medical Tourist does not 'recommend' any one hospital or clinic as better than another for obvious legal reasons. This is not an Egon Ronay guide to treatment facilities around the world. It is a reference book which merely points out what facilities are avalable, and then it is up the patient to investigate further and make their own decision on where to go.


Question : Have people who purchased your book contacted you, asking for advice? Has anyone contacted you, thanking you for your help? Has anyone complained about getting a bad deal after taking your advice?

Hancock : As I pointed out in your previous question this book does not 'advise' or 'recommend'. It is merely there as a reference book to what is avalable for anyone contemplating 'medical tourism'. As such it has been criticised by a couple of people in the US who say the information is available on the Internet. This may be so, but would anyone thinking about 'medical tourism' like to spend weeks and weeks ploughing through the Net or have a copy of a book in their pocket which they can flip through anywhere, and which is packed with telephone numbers, addresses, web sites and all other relevant information? I know which I would choose.

I have been approached several times by TV and newspapers for help on a programme or article about medical tourists who have had a bad deal or whose operations went wrong. On each ocassion the show has had to be shelved because no one could find enough people to complain about things going wrong


Question : You've been a travel writer, editor and author for quite some time now. Does writing this book on medical tourism make you feel like you're entering a new sector, or phase, in your career?

Hancock : Writing this book has certainly been a total departure for me to say the very least. My career till now has been as a journalist mainly in the field of entertainment, interviewing rock stars and movie stars for major British newspapers such as The Mirror and The Times, as well as writing about the video games industry, new technology, and the odd travel feature. Not to mention the books I have written about gangsters (laughing)! But The Complete Medical Tourist has opened up a new phase in my life. A brand-new medical tourism operator called Fly2doc which is based in Lisbon, Portugal, and covers the Iberian peninsular has been seeking my advice about certain aspects of the UK market and I have given interviews to papers such as the New York Times and the Financial Times. From someone who is used to doing the interviews I have now become the interviewee, which is very interesting.


Question : What do you think about the future of medical tourism? Where's it heading to? Is it going mainstream, or is it just a temporary phase, a bubble?

Hancock : Medical tourism has be to seen in perspective. It is still a very small slice ($5- $6 billion) of an American healthcare industry of $2 trillion a year. However its exponential growth is quite staggering - more than 50 per cent a year in the UK - and so it should not be underestimated. The people who should really be looking at it are the private health care insurance companies. By outsourcing operations and treatments to clinics abroad they will be able to offer more competitive premiums because of the lower costs. Once this gets a major foothold then medical tourism will be here to stay. I do not see it as a tempoarary thing or a 'bubble' in anyway. I believe this is just the beginning of a major industry. Ask me the same question in 10 years time and then see where we are


Question : What changes do you see in this sector in the coming years?

Hancock : I think major medical tour operators will become more sophisticated as bigger players enter the market. One major holiday travel oeprator in the UK has announced they will be entering the field of 'medical holidays'. Package deals which include medical care, hotels, flights etc will be uniquely tailored to the individual client. And while most popular treatments today are for orthopaedics, dental and cosmetic surgery, in future I can see patients electing medical tourism for major operations such as cardiac and cancer treatments.


Question : What are you working on, right now? Is there a new book in the works?

Hancock : I am currently trying to persuade my publisher to print a second editon of The Complete Medical Tourist. Since my book was published the whole industry has grown bigger and I am inundated with facilitators who would like to be included in a new edition. So fingers crossed. On a different tack altogether, I am also writing a children's book. So eat your heart out Harry Potter (laughing)


Question : Do you have a website?

Hancock : My website is http://www.davidhancock.eu/


Question : Anything else you want to add?

Hancock : I would just like to say thank you for inviting me to say a few words and I wish you the very best of success with your blog.

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And I, on behalf of New Medical Horizons Inc. and all our readers thank David Hancock for sharing his knowledge and interest in medical tourism with us. I also wish him continued success in his endeavours, literary or otherwise. Hopefully, JK Rowling won't come after our Mr. Hancock with a wizard's wand and banish him to Azkaban after the release of his children's book.