Overseas hospitals 'have pros and cons'

Overseas medical insurance policyholders should be aware that if they choose to have elective plastic surgery abroad, they might not be able to check the quality of the health facilities before they arrive.

According to consultant plastic surgeon and secretary to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Rajiv Grover, some individuals who might not have expat health insurance cover travel overseas for hospital treatment because they are worried about the cost.

However, standards of some hospitals overseas might not be as high as those in patients' home countries, the medical professional said.

"If you are going abroad for surgery, the reason why the costs are less is because overheads, charges - everything is less, but you can't actually look at the quality of the facility you are going to be treated in" he pointed out.

If hospitals abroad are less clean and have less stringent criteria for hygiene in place, the risk of cross infection from other patients is higher.

His comments come after news reports emerged last month about a new superbug that is resistant to antibiotics being found in expatriates and other travellers returning from certain countries having undergone cosmetic surgery.