Pub Landlord 'Held to Ransom' by Turkish Hospital until the Family Paid £25k
In the News
Here is an important lesson if you are thinking of going to Turkey without insurance
This person did and was forced to pay £25,000 before they would release him from hospital after falling ill , the original bill was £49,000
The family had to set up an appeal for the money and managed to get most of it together and get the bill reduced using a Turkish solicitor
He says he heard it is a common practice for hospitals there to overcharge patients for unnecessary treatment
The problem is he could not get the cover he wanted as he has medical preconditions
I think anyone with these type of medical conditions should think twice about travelling abroad without insurance, especially where the treatment could be below standard or dodgy
Otherwise they should stay at home and holiday here , at least they will get treated at the emergency department, or you would hope so
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/pensioner-held-hostage-hospital-turkey-33203025
I think I'd slip out the side door if I could. EHIC cards are free and cover basic health care.
overseas-healthcare.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/get-healthcare-cover-travelling-abroad/start
MelissaLee1 True but only cover EEA countries, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. You will not be covered in Turkey.
'You can use your card to get state healthcare that cannot reasonably wait until you come back to the UK (sometimes called "medically necessary healthcare"). This includes things like: emergency treatment and visits to A&E. treatment or routine medical care for long-term or pre-existing medical conditions.'
MelissaLee1 I showed my EHIC card in Portugal... Nothing. Might work in other countries.
It's a shame we don't get visitors to the UK to pay their NHS medical bills too! 
tumblespots We are are suppose too but in either an article or tv programs(there was phase where people were coming over here to give birth), the hospitals are really slack at demanding the money/don’t follow up- I really hoped that changed considering staff demands for more money.
Gromit22 It is a shame they don't follow these bills up as I thought they had lots and lots of 'managers' these days! When the boot is on the other foot, as you can see from this chat they are rather on the ball!
I’ve never fancied going to Turkey on holiday as I always used to hear of people getting stomach trouble and mines bad enough as it is.
I never realise about this malpractice of increasing the costs/making up
Treatments that’s horrendous.
You never want to travel without insurance and this demonstrates the point even more.
Gromit22 If he had insurance, there wouldn't be a problem, would there. Do you expect the hospital to have treated him for nothing?
I'm sick of donuts trying to climb Snowdonia and the likes in their flip-flops and snorts, get into trouble, and then having to have the rescue services out. They should have to get insurance in this country before being fools. I'd make the mugs pay back the tens of thousands that it costs for a rescue
TheChimp....Totally agree with you, worked at an Outdoor Pursuits Centre where a lot of my Instructor friends went out searching for members of the public as they were members of Edale Mountain Rescue..
Mountain Rescue, Lifeboats etc are run by VOLUNTEERS & rely on DONATIONS...
I think travel Insurance should be compulsory.
How many times do we hear of this happening, and then family or friends setting up a gofundme expecting everyone else to bail them out.
I have pre existing health conditions, but I purchased travel Insurance last week for an upcoming trip to Norway, and it cost me only £12.
There really is no excuse.
I ended up in a Turkish hospital 2 months ago, I had a badly swollen foot due to an health issue I have, they wanted to do surgery to fit a stent in my leg lol, I phoned my doctor for a second opinion , he said surgery wasn't needed, well trying to leave the hospital was a total drama, I would never go abroad without insurance, it's cheap enough if you shop around
martinlufc5637 That echoes what the person in the article was saying, they put him into an induced coma etc to get the maximum out of him in costs
In the UK this would be classed as medical negligence
telmel when I got back to the UK , doctor gave me some medication and the swelling was nearly gone in 2 days, I wouldn't have had surgery even if i needed it, I'd have flown home early
martinlufc5637 I am glad it worked out for you that way M, a lesson to be learned here for anyone in a similar situation
A local lad had a skiing accident with no insurance. His hospital bill was astronomical so a funding raising page was set up or the parents had to remortgage their home.
A friend was quoted £3500 for her travel insurance, she does have health issues.
I totally agree with you. I used to work in the travel industry and trying to drum it into people they needed insurance as soon as they booked their holiday was sometimes hard work. My mum recently paid £400 for insurance to go on a cruise. There were people with worse health conditions than hers on board and I bet many were not insured. The law needs to change. When you check in and show your passport, show your insurance cover as well. We had to do this just after Covid when we travelled.
Both my sons and their families are in Turkey next week but confident they have insurance, I didn't think you could travel without it!? The Turkish people don't do themselves any favours with their constant scams and money making schemes...but medics? Disgusting.
Turkey (I'm not gonna use the new official spelling 
) is admittedly a country where Brits go for vacation, but I don't see why. Nothing about it makes me want to go there.
Much less due to Erdogan being in power and they renamed Constantinople to "Istanbul."
It's nice to go on holiday but if you have health issues health insurance is always a must. I don't understand why he could not get cover. Surely theres a company that could have covered him. That's a big risk.
To be honest I think it's absolute madness to travel abroad without the appropriate travel insurance. In the scale of things when you go abroad you can get a basic policy cheap enough. Hopefully you will never need it but if the worse happens your covered.
No sympathy from Mr. He knew he had health problems and went away without insurance. Crazy to take that chance
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