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@sfriggieri75

I'm in Plovdiv where I go to Pulmed and Medline, which are both good private hospitals. If I need a bigger place with more departments/specialists (not that it would be needed for a colonoscopy) I go to Tokuda in Sofia. They don't need referrals, and they're all pretty responsive to walk-ins who want scan X or procedure Y. In any case, a colonoscopy is not a complicated procedure, so there's minimal due diligence required (as opposed to a major op), and you could probably walk into a bunch of private clinics/hospitals in Sofia and get one.

It seems a bit random suddenly deciding you want a colonoscopy and needing to pick a place to have it, but I suppose it's best not to inquire about the messy details. :-) However, I would have guessed there were less intrusive options that you could look at first. Personally, I'm not a fan of colonoscopies (or its topside partner the endoscopy) and I'm not volunteering for one unless my GP insists that my life depends on it. :-) I'd probably go to see my GP (or a specialist gastroenterologist) first so that he can give me the once-over, and recommend a place to go to (and/or give me a referral). You can pay GPs (mine, at Medline, is 25 leva for a private consult vs 5 leva for a NHIF-covered patient) or surgeons/specialists (typically 50-150 leva for a consult) privately.

@gwynj thank you for your help. Sadly in my country waiting time is over a year for such procedure- coming from the doctor who referred me to have it done. That is the reason I enquired to have it done privately. In my country it is also around 鈧�1K.

Contacted Tokuda too, but earliest available date is late December.

However it is a great idea that I first consult with a specialist in this area. We have planned a week in Sofia, and we will enquire before leaving my country/go round once we are over there.

Thanks again 馃憤

@sfriggieri75

A year waiting list? Wow, that's quite the wait!

Well, if you've got a visit planned, then it might be worth calling a few others.

I've had a consult at Vita (Vita dot bg), and I think Uni Hospital (unihospitalbg dot com) is OK. The two I mentioned in Plovdiv are Medline (medline dot bg) and Pulmed (hospitalpulmed dot bg). I think they all have a gastroenterology department, so a colonoscopy should be available. Plovdiv is an easy 90 minutes (motorway) drive from Sofia.

I'm not sure the cost will be dramatically lower, but I doubt you'd have to wait long (especially with several hospitals to choose from).

The other option is to look at our neighbour Turkey. It's also a very cheap country, and Istanbul has a thriving medical tourism sector, far more than Bulgaria.

@gwynj Yes sadly in my country there is a long wait. All booked for a week in Bulgaria already though. Am sure we will be able to sort it out. Turkey was also a very good option, many locals are going there for all types of procedures. Anyways, thank you for all your support 馃檹

@sfriggieri75

Apart from this procedure, are you looking at moving to Bulgaria? It might be useful to know that legal residence is easy for EU citizens... and then you can get public healthcare for 20 euros per month (as unemployed). Then, as an EXTRA bonus, you'll find that private hospitals (such as Tokuda or Medline) are affiliated with the public system, and get reimbursed by it. This means you can get near-instant VIP hospital treatment for a ludicrously small private patient surcharge. For example, Tokuda's fully private cost for a total hip replacement is heading towards 15k euros. If you have public cover here, then it's more like 500 euros.

@gwynj

Wow..that's great. Good to know! Thanks again.

@gwynj thank you for all your support. Yes sadly in my country that is the reality at the moment! Anyways will resort to other options.

I have my S1 as a UK pensioner living here I've not registered with a GP as yet should I be paying 20 lev a month already or should that payment start when I have a GP or as a pensioner with an S1 have to pay insurance at all?

Once you're registered with the BG health service, GP visits are just a couple of leva a time. It's another 2 leva per injection, if needed. Drugs are paid for in full, unless you have certain illnesses, eg cancer.

Coincidentally, I'm visiting my mother-in-law in a hospice after a massive stroke, and my wife is in Intensive Care after another major cancer-associated operation. I know more about the BG health system than I care to...

@JimJ

I hope things are improving on both fronts.

@Kath948381

No monthly payment needed if you have an S1. Firstly, you register your S1 with the NHIF, the public health system and NHS-equivalent (they will give you a Bulgarian document which you show when you need some treatment). Secondly, register as a patient with your local GP. This works like the UK, in that you'll always want a regular doc to consult. And your registered GP consultation is then covered by the public system (per @JimJ "a couple of leva"), as is a specialist consultation or operation if your GP has made the appropriate referral.

In the UK, you can't really short-circuit the system by trying to go direct to a specialist. Your GP is the gatekeeper. However, in Bulgaria, it seems quite possible to go to a private hospital and see a specialist there. This will be a private, paid-for consultation (maybe 50-200 leva, typically), but many (not all) are able to provide treatment/operations with subsidy from NHIF (with a small private hospital surcharge). This is a very nice feature of the Bulgarian system, and I've personally not yet done anything at a public hospital here.

In general, I'm a bit baffled how the system manages to work, as the charges seem ludicrously small! My GP is in Medline a nice private hospital in central Plovdiv. My GP consultation is still 2 lv, like the public system, but he can't be bothered to ask me for 2 lv. When he's referred me to a specialist (e.g. Orthopedic surgeon) the consult fee was about 5 lv (vs. his private consult fee of 150 lv). The orthopedist asked for x-rays, so that too was 5 lv (vs. 50 leva if I just walk in and ask for one).

@gwynj

Thats really useful advice, our friends and a lawyer tried to explain you can get private treatment via Bulgarian 'NHS' but it didn't make sense ( as we all have a Language Barrier -聽 us especially ! ) - you've answered it brilliantly thanks

With the greatest of respect to @Gwynj, my experience - personal and family - of the BG health service, public and private, over 20 years (and especially recently/ongoing) has left me with a very much less rosy view of the whole set-up. In my view, when the going gets tough, the system is moribund, inefficient and inflexible. There are some, unintentionally, good bits - pharmacists are still totally relaxed about selling most prescription-only drugs here, for example - but my advice would be do not get seriously ill unless you want to find yourself treated like an extra in a Balkan version of a Brian Rix farce or The Keystone Cops...

@JimJ

You may well be right. Given some of what you've posted, it does seem that (unfortunately) you've had to rely on the Bulgarian health system for far more serious/complicated issues than me. Whereas, me and my dad are lucky that we're still in excellent health, and we've only had to deal with fairly minor issues, or totally straightforward scans/tests.

I suppose the UK's NHS comes in for much criticism in relation to overcrowding and long wait times for procedures. But it still has a good reputation for delivering when you really need it. Perhaps Bulgaria's equivalent is not as good. It's a tricky decision, but I don't think I could justify moving back to the UK because of this issue. However, I would understand if some folks with serious health complications might feel differently.

The other issue is that Bulgaria's system has so many private hospitals/clinics that are affiliated and reimbursed by the public system. I do wonder how sustainable this is, given the cost of private treatment. But, currently, that's how it is... and it's something I have not seen in the many other countries I've lived. Almost all focus on public hospitals (with free or nearly-free care) vs unsubsidized private care if you choose (and can afford) this option.

In Bulgaria, I've been in Sveti Georgi University Hospital, a very large public hospital in Plovdiv, several times. I know people who've had treatment there without any issue. If I had no other option, that would be my first choice (especially as it's 300m from our apartment). But it feels old, and it's massively crowded, so it's not an enjoyable experience when trying to do something. On the other hand, I find modern, private hospitals (like Tokuda in Sofia, or Medline/Pulmed/Kaspela in Plovdiv) fairly relaxing experiences, especially as they're about 90% less crowded. :-) I'm not saying that private hospitals are perfect, but it's a completely different qualitative experience when going to one of these hospitals for treatment, scans/tests, and preventative consultations. Especially when you can do it immediately, and the cost (even when paying full price, but especially when heavily subsidized by NHIF) is very, very affordable.

Today's medical facilities update...

Just to briefly fill in the background: my wife has had a series of pretty big operations recently, and is rather ill with various complications. At present she's at home but pretty much bed-bound as she recuperates in preparation for the next round.聽 My mother-in-law recently had a major stroke and is in a Sofia hospice (which doesn't mean necessarily quite the same as it would in the UK); she has no idea who she or anyone else is, has massive bed sores and us completely bed-bound.

My father-in-law had cancer a while back and has an extremely enlarged prostate, to the extent that he has a permanent catheter; he's also about 90% blind, and deaf. He's coping on his own with the kind help of a buddy in the same village but they're both in their 80s. Today he and his friend travelled to the local town on the bus so FiL could get checked out by the GP; the GP took one look at his apparently massively swollen legs and gave him a chit to take to the local hospital for immediate in-patient admission and tests. At the hospital, he realised that he didn't have his Lichna Karta and the admissions department told him to go home and come back with it, otherwise he couldn't be admitted. So the Two Musketeers returned to the village and duly reappeared at the hospital, whereupon they were told that there aren't any beds available, end of story. There wasn't even a doctor available/willing to see him and his buddy shouting about the GP's immediate referral etc cut no ice.聽 I should add that this is the same hospital which admitted MiL after her first stroke and then allowed the old lady to stagger to the bathroom on her own; she promptly fell and broke her hip, whereupon the hospital not only didn't even try to treat it but insisted that she be removed immediately as broken hips aren't their concern... They couldn't even provide any kind of transport to get her to a real hospital. Now I have to try to find a private hospital that will even just examine him to find out what's wrong with him. There's no point enlisting the aid of the GP: she had a screaming match with the hospital over MiL's broken hip but got nowhere at all.

As I've said before - don't get sick in Bulgaria unless you're very close to a city...and even then, don't raise your hopes too high!

Oh no! I am sorry there are even more complications. Praying for a successful solution.聽

I hope hospitals in our region are better! Probably not, sadly.