What to do if you get ill abroad?

Things to do if Your Holiday is Ruined by Illness According to the National Office for Statistics up to 70 million Brits travel abroad each year. In a report prepared by the Health Protection Agency it is suggested that the risk of acquiring what they term as travellers' diarrhoea can be more than 60% in some parts of the world. The extent of any illnesses and their cause is difficult to determine with statistics, but what is clear is that a lot of people fall ill and it is commonly something that can be avoided. It is important that you consider both the medical and the practical perspective of any holiday illness that you suffer from. How to Get Better Getting advice at an early stage is vital to your recovery. You may not be able to visit your doctor about your illness claim, but you will hopefully be able to access the internet and get advice from many of the websites that are out there. You may want to try the NHS Choices site to see what the latest advice is in dealing with illness. What Practical Things should I do? When you have recovered sufficiently to focus on what you were ill, you may want to consider the following steps. Alternatively, you may ask a friend or family member to help, because the sooner you can get this information, the more helpful it will be. What should I do if I contract an illness abroad in a hotel? 1. Report your illness and retain a copy of the report. It is important to let your tour operator or holiday company know that you have been ill. It is often the last thing that you want to do when you are ill in bed. However, they will be able to help you get treatment if you need it, whether it is from the local hospital or doctor. Also, if you need to make a complaint or illness compensation claim at a later date then it is essential to have the report. 2. Make a note of the foods you ate and how they were cooked. Different strains of food poisoning and illness have very different symptoms and incubation periods. They are also caused by different things. Therefore, it is important to try and recount what you ate and when because it could be important in establishing what has caused your illness and may assist if you decide to make an illness compensation claim. 3. Make notes and record any information that may have caused your illness. Many people will think they know what caused their illness. For example, they may become ill shortly after eating a meal and they may suspect there was something wrong with their food, for example some undercooked chicken. If possible, get photgraphs of the food and also the cooking and serving arrangements. This information can often be helpful in painting a picture of the level of hygeine at the hotel. 4. Create a timeline of your symptoms from start to finish. The onset of symptoms will be a good indicator of what has caused them and the type and extent of symptoms can be useful in detrmining the cause of any illness. The more accurate you can be, the better chance you have of proving that it was the failure in hygeine standards that has caused your illness. 5. Speak to other guests who have also suffered illness at the hotel. It is common for there to be an outbreak of illness and if you have been affected, you may find that many others have suffered too. Often people will share their details and even reprt their difficulties on socail media sites such as facebook. The more detail you can get from others, the more helpful it is to your claim. If you can get details of other people who have suffered, the weight of numbers is very compelling and often helps to prove an illness claim. 6. Attend your doctor Even if you think you have made a full recovery, we would recommend taking a stool sample to your GP. It is not uncommon for symptoms to flare up again, or continue at a low, but irritating level for a long time. If you attend your GP they will arrange for the sample to be tested and can determine if you have a recognised illness. Even if you don't, it may be that is now out of your system, but doesn't stop you from investigating the claim. 7. Contact a competent solicitor with experience in hotel illness claims. It may sound obvious, but make sure you speak with a solicitor who has experience in dealing with claims of this type. It is a specialised area and there are only a few firms who are properly equipped to deal with the illness compensation claims quickly and effectively. Call us today because we have a significant level of experience and can offer you a no win, no fee arrangement.  For more information you can contact us via our website at: www.accidents-abroad.com