Weak pound boosts medical tourism to London

The weak pound means that some UK clinics have recently seen increased numbers of patients from overseas.

The weak pound means that some UK clinics have recently seen increased numbers of patients from overseas. David West, founder of Veincentre says 20% of clients came from abroad in 2016. This is up 50% on 2015 thanks to the weak pound.

This British clinic group specialises in laser removal of varicose veins and 2016 saw customers from a dozen other countries, including Peru, China, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Madagascar.

This sudden influx means employees have had to be trained in how to deal with the rising numbers of enquiries from overseas. In some cases the company has needed to hire interpreters.

The company operates a network of clinics in locations across the UK, including Bristol, London, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Nottingham and Chipping Norton.

All clinics are conveniently located near to International airports with easy and quick transfers. For patient safety they recommend that long distance flights (over 4 hours) are avoided for 4 weeks after EVLA treatment but flights within Europe are perfectly safe.

The group gets referrals from insurers and from many embassies. It has a clear price list and accepts bookings without a clinical assessment.