Travelling with a companion

Why we recommend it

Recovering from surgery in an unfamiliar country, in a second language, is harder than people expect. A companion is someone to sit with you, notice when something is wrong, and hold the thread of a conversation you are too tired to follow. For day procedures and screening it is optional. For inpatient surgery we think it is close to essential.

Entry rules apply to them separately

This catches people out. Your companion's entry requirements follow their passport, not yours. A Canadian companion travelling with an American patient may enter under different rules entirely, and on a different timeline.

Tell us who is travelling when you first get in touch, and which passports they hold. We work out the entry route for each person rather than assuming the household travels on the same terms.

What Chinese hospitals expect from family

Chinese wards operate with a level of family involvement that has no direct North American equivalent. Relatives commonly stay with the patient, help with meals and washing, and take an active role in day-to-day care. Many hospitals provide a fold-out bed or a chair for exactly this purpose.

This is not a sign of understaffing, and it is not something you are obliged to take on — our coordinators can cover it where there is no companion. But it explains a ward atmosphere that can otherwise feel chaotic to someone expecting a quiet private room, and it is worth knowing before the first morning rather than after it.

What a companion is not

• Not an interpreter. A medical interpreter is with you for consultations, consent and ward rounds. Asking a family member to interpret a consent discussion is unfair to them and unsafe for you, even if their Chinese is good.
• Not clinical staff. Nursing care is the hospital's responsibility. A companion helps with comfort and company, not with treatment.
• Not your decision-maker. Unless you have arranged that formally in advance, in which case tell us early so the hospital's consent process can account for it.

Practical arrangements

We book accommodation near the hospital for a companion as part of coordinating the trip, and include them in airport pickup and transport. Tell us about mobility needs, dietary requirements or anything else that shapes where they can comfortably stay.

Where a companion cannot travel, say so early. A coordinator spending more time on the ward is a reasonable substitute for some of this, and we would rather plan for it than discover it on arrival.