Our full guide to oncology second opinion consultation is not published yet. What follows applies to any procedure abroad: how to check who will treat you, what a proper consultation establishes, and what to settle before you travel. For the procedures we have written up in detail, see all guides.
Check who will treat you
This matters more than the clinic's photographs and more than the price. The questions are the same wherever you go, and a clinic that answers them in writing has told you most of what you need to know.
Being a qualified doctor and being a registered specialist in the relevant surgical field are different things. Ask which register, then check it yourself rather than accepting the clinic's own paperwork.
Ask it directly, and ask who performs each part of the procedure. Get the answer in writing before you pay anything.
Whether it has inpatient beds, resuscitation capability and overnight medical cover, or whether it is a day clinic that closes. Ask who leads the anaesthetic team and whether they stay with you throughout.
Most countries publish a register of licensed providers. Look your clinic up in it. Administrative verification narrows the field; it is not a guarantee of outcome.
What a consultation should establish
A plan built from photographs is provisional. Before anyone quotes you a final price, a clinician who has examined you should have confirmed that the procedure suits your case at all.
That decision belongs to the treating surgeon, after reviewing your history and any imaging. A quote issued before that has happened is an estimate, not a plan.
Including doing nothing, and including less invasive options. A consultation that presents only one route has not given you a choice.
Time off work, when you can travel, when you will see the result, and what the first weeks actually feel like. Ask for the usual case, not the best one.
Every procedure has them. You want them stated specifically for your case, not as a list you sign on the day.
Before you travel
They know your history, and they are who you will see if something needs attention after you are home. Tell them what you are planning.
Who provides it, for how long, and what happens if you need to be seen once you are back. Aftercare is the treating clinic's responsibility and it stays your first point of contact.
Ask what the clinic pays for if one occurs and what it does not. Standard travel insurance does not normally cover treatment you travelled for.
You fly when you are fit to fly, which is a clinical decision and not a calendar one. Build in the possibility of staying longer.
Come home with the operation note, any implant or device details, prescriptions and a report your own clinician can read.
Take your time
There is no good reason to decide quickly. Time-limited discounts and deposits taken before you have had a chance to think are a reason to look elsewhere, not a reason to hurry. You can change your mind, and you can ask another surgeon for a second opinion.
This page is general information, not medical advice. Your surgeon gives the clinical advice, after reviewing your case.