Sunday 15 May 2016

Am I okay to go on holiday, doctor?

Around this time of year many of my cardiac patients ask me whether they can arrange a holiday. Some patients are worried about their fitness to fly, others are concerned about arranging travel insurance. In this blog, I'll highlight some useful resources to help answer these questions:

Fitness to fly
The British Cardiovascular Society has published a useful report to help clinicians advise their patients about fitness to fly. Entitled Fitness to fly for passengers with cardiovascular disease, the report can be accessed from the BCS website (click here) and contains a quick-reference guide that covers common cardiac conditions, together with a more detailed review of the evidence.

BCS report on Fitness to Fly (extract)

More generally, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has an online guide on fitness to fly for passengers and healthcare professionals, entitled Am I Fit to Fly?

Travel insurance
Obtaining travel insurance when patients have a cardiovascular condition can sometimes prove challenging. The British Heart Foundation covers this issue on their website (click here), and they also provide a list of sympathetic insurance companies.

Specific conditions
A number of websites provide information on fitness to travel for various cardiovascular conditions. These include:
Finally, NHS Scotland provides a public access website called Fit for Travel which provides travel health information for people travelling abroad from the UK.

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