CPAP rental -- England

Hi --

Does anyone know if it is possible to rent a CPAP for a London vacation? I would, of course, take my own mask, but would love not to have to carry the machine. Thanks.

I think I would ask the nearest consulate or high commission before depending on that answer!

It will probably be easier to buy a used one here, mail it to your hotel ahead of time and throw it away after your stay.

cosmo wrote:It will probably be easier to buy a used one here, mail it to your hotel ahead of time and throw it away after your stay.

Exactly cosmo. But use a private package service instead of USPS.

ChicagoGranny wrote:Ha! Good luck with that. They have a nationalized medical care system that is horrible.

What experience do you have with the NHS that qualifies you to make that statement?

To the OP: Try contacting The London Sleep Centre (http://www.londonsleepcentre.com), they may be able to help or point you in the right direction.

ChicagoGranny wrote:Ha! Good luck with that. They have a nationalized medical care system that is horrible.

What does the UKs citizens funded medical care system have to do with providing foreign tourists with CPAP medical equipment? especially when they are too lazy to bring what they already have?

Its not the first time this crazy granny has posted just to push her political opinion while at the same time contributing nothing on topic of any use

Back on topic

There are several companies the do CPAP rentals, such as http://www.ukcpap.co.uk/

http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/cpap_rental.php This company will rent you an APAP with complete setup, deliver it via courier for around $150 a week.

This might also be useful for the occasional traveler who inadvertently checks the machine
(or it is done by a clueless family member);
only to have it sent to the wrong destination, or have it destroyed by baggage handlers.

Uncle_Bob wrote:

There are several companies the do CPAP rentals, such as http://www.ukcpap.co.uk/

http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/cpap_rental.php This company will rent you an APAP with complete setup, deliver it via courier for around $150 a week.

As is clear from their websites, those companies are doing that with the full expectation that many people will buy the machines at the end of the first week trial.

I would make sure they are eager to rent them to a foreign tourist who has no intention of buying a machine. I bet they won't.

ChicagoGranny wrote:
Ha! Good luck with that. They have a nationalized medical care system that is horrible."

I've lived under both and if Americans lived under the UK's NHS for 1 year, they would NEVER give it up - it is Soooooooooo much better than the US system that it is ridiculous to even compare them, it's like arguing that the Columbia University Football team is better than the University of Alabama's

World Health Organization rates the UK's system as the 18 best health care system in the world and the US at 38 - this is for 2012

The US Central Intelligence agency gives the longevity at birth in the UK as 80.17 while the US is 78.49 - 2012 data

and the UK spends 9.6% of GNP on health care while the US spends 17.6% of GNP on health care, again 2012 data

UK covers 100% of its citizens while there are around 50 million American citizens with no health insurance - the working poor especially

And I've had about 100 times the trouble with getting my insurance to pay for ANY medical treatments here ( and i pay around $1500 a month for insurance) than in 2 decades in england where i never had ANY problems with getting treatment

If i need major surgery and it is not an emergency, I'd fly back to england as fast as i could

here's a company that rents cpap machines in the UK

http://www.ukcpap.co.uk/cpap-rental.php

The propaganda machine at the disposal of the American health insurance industry is HUGE. They do everything they can to scare people into thinking that our system is the best and should not be tinkered with, and every other country is worse off than us. Of course, they do not want anything to change the billions of dollars in profits they see every year.

I have personally witnessed health care distribution in Italy and the UK, and can agree that they have little to complain about. No one is excluded. There are problems, but everyone gets good care. 100% of the populace.

Only in the US do we consider quality health care a privilege, rather than a right.

At least, the Brits are in a much better position to ward off a bioterrorism threat--
anybody has access to a doctor there. Here, in the States, the working poor continue to work,
and only see a doctor in an "emergency", like when they are horizontal and nearly dead.
---"Is this mucus on my pizza?"

WarmBodies wrote:
As is clear from their websites, those companies are doing that with the full expectation that many people will buy the machines at the end of the first week trial.

I would make sure they are eager to rent them to a foreign tourist who has no intention of buying a machine. I bet they won't.

How much are you willing to bet then ?
Its not clear from the ukcpap.co.uk webiste that they only rent to purchase at all.
In fact ukcpap.co.uk DOES rent to tourists and will mail it to an address of your choice.

Ask for Michelle.

Thanks
~B

I would not trust anyone in London to have a proper machine waiting for me.

If this is important to you, take your own machine. The machine is not very big and not heavy and as a medical device you can carry it on without counting as a bag. No deal Michelle my belle.

Of course it's up to you.

Space Oddity wrote:I would not trust anyone in London to have a proper machine waiting for me.

I would not trust anyone in the US to have a proper machine waiting for me without doing my due diligence, and checking the company out properly. There are many horror stories from the US, so it is not a country-specific problem. In the US the cost of insurance is skyrocketing, and as a result the average quality of care is declining. In the UK you may have to wait for elective surgery, but at least you get it without having to pay a fortune. The problem in the US is that not everyone who is working pays into a plan, and then there are those who seek to defraud any "government" system. Especially Medicare. Never mind cutting government payments to Medicare - cut out the fraud. Now I'll get off my soapbox.