British nationals who go into hospital in the Dominican Republic

We aim to contact you within 24 hours of being told that you have been admitted to hospital.

We don’t usually contact or visit people who have travelled specifically for medical treatment.

If you are in hospital as a result of an assault or other crime, we will visit you as soon as possible.

In all other cases, we will take account of factors such as yourcondition, your ability to speak on the phone, whether you haverelatives or friends with you, whether you have a tour companyrepresentative and the standard of medical facilities before decidingwhether a visit is appropriate. If we decide it is, and we have staffin the same city as the hospital which you are in, we aim to visit youwithin 48 hours of being told that you have gone into hospital.

If you want, we can contact your family or friends in the UK to tell them that you are in hospital.

Also if you want, we can help you to liaise with your insurancecompany or medical evacuation company.  Remember to keep any receiptsor doctors’ notes in case you need them to make a claim.  We may alsobe able to help you communicate with hospital staff if they do notspeak English.

Mental illness

Facilities for dealing with mental illness vary in the Dominican Republic comparedto the UK.  Sometimes privately-run clinics are the only real optionand, in other cases people with mental illness may be detained by thepolice initially before being transferred to a public hospital.

If you are mentally ill and want our help, we will do our best tomake sure you receive medical help and advice, wherever you are.  Butwe cannot provide this help and advice ourselves.

If you have run out of a prescribed medication we can give youinformation on getting supplies locally. You should be aware, however,that some medication might be banned or unavailable in the Dominican Republic. If you want, we can contact your family and friends in the UK.

If necessary, we can help medical staff in Dominican Republic contact medicalstaff in the UK – they may be able to advise on your medical historyand may be the most appropriate people to offer continued support ifyou return to the UK.

You may find that your insurance policy does not cover mentalillness, or is not valid because you did not declare a pre-existingcondition.  In these cases, you or your family must expect to pay forany treatment.

For further information, we have a guide called ‘Support for British nationals abroad – a guide` on our travel website under ‘Our publications ’, which you may find useful.