Most advice for medical travel is written for the patient. But on any long admission the attendant does more work, makes more decisions, and is more likely to be exhausted by week three. If that is you, this is the practical version.

You are expected, not tolerated

Indian hospitals build for attendants. A companion bed in the room is standard rather than an upgrade, and nursing staff will assume someone is with the patient. That is a real advantage over systems with strict visiting hours — you can be present for the ward round, which is where information actually gets exchanged.

Apply for the attendant visa at the same time as the patient's medical visa, and bring documentary proof of your relationship. Our guide to the Indian medical visa covers exactly what missions ask for.

The first 48 hours

• Register at the international patient desk and get a named coordinator with a mobile number
• Get a local SIM card — hospital wi-fi is unreliable and you will be making a lot of calls
• Find the 24-hour pharmacy, the billing counter and the nearest ATM. You will use all three repeatedly
• Ask what time the ward round happens and be there for it
• Confirm how bills are settled: deposit, interim billing, or at discharge
• Photograph every document you are given, immediately

The job during admission

Practically: fetching medication, chasing reports, settling interim bills, translating for relatives at home, and being present when decisions are made. Keep one notebook for everything — dates, doctors' names, drug changes, amounts paid. Three weeks in, memory is not reliable and a written record settles most billing questions immediately.

At the ward round, three questions are usually enough: what changed since yesterday, what are we waiting for, and what would need to happen for discharge? Asked daily, they surface delays early.

Money

Keep every receipt, ask for an itemised interim bill every few days rather than one large one at the end, and query anything you do not recognise at the time — it is far easier to resolve a line item on the day than at discharge. If the stay extends beyond the packaged days, ask immediately what the new daily rate is; our guide to reading a hospital quote explains where packages usually stop.

Looking after yourself

This is the part people skip, and it is why two attendants is better than one. Sleep somewhere other than the companion bed at least every few nights — a nearby guesthouse costs little. Eat properly rather than from the hospital canteen at midnight. Take a walk outside daily. Over a transplant admission of eight to twelve weeks, an attendant who burns out in week four is a genuine problem for the patient, not just for themselves.

Agree with family at home on one update per day at a fixed time, rather than answering the same questions from twelve people continuously. It sounds cold; it preserves the energy you need for the ward.

Preparing for discharge

Ask for the discharge summary, operative note, medication list with doses and duration, imaging on disc, any implant card, and the follow-up schedule — all in English. Confirm which medicines are available in your own country and get alternatives named for those that are not. And ask directly for the warning signs that should send the patient to a doctor at home, written down. Our page on flying home after surgery covers the timing side of leaving.