Botched boob jobs and tummy tucks value NHS a fortune as Brits chase ‘too good to be true’ ops
Brits chasing cut-price ops in countries like Turkey and eastern Europe often end up spending weeks in UK hospital beds on their return
Brits’ botched boob jobs are costing the NHS thousands(Image:
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Botched foreign cosmetic surgery like tummy tucks and boob jobs is costing the NHS up to £20,000 when things go wrong.
Brits chasing cut-price ops in countries like Turkey and eastern Europe often end up spending weeks in UK hospital beds on their return, a probe has found.
Some have suffered multiple organ failure from sepsis, and others needed intensive care and prolonged antibiotics after treatment in dodgy theatres by inexperienced surgeons.
The authors of the study, published in BMJ Open, fear the costs could actually be far higher because there is a huge gap in the data. Their estimates don’t even include emergency surgery or GP visits, which mean the real bill could be hundreds of thousands more.
The authors said: “We still do not know how many people resident in the UK go abroad for elective surgery or how many people subsequently experience complications.
“Without this data, we cannot fully understand the levels of risk that people seeking surgery abroad are taking.”
Experts from Cardiff and Bangor universities looked at 655 patients treated by the NHS between 2011 and 2024 after suffering problems abroad.
Costs ranged from £1,058 to £19,549 per patient. The vast majority of patients – 90% – were women with an average age of 38 and the most common destination was Turkey, accounting for 61% of cases.
The number of medical tourists has skyrocketed in recent years, driven by social media.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting previously said he would try to boost safety for Brits travelling abroad for procedures after several deaths.
He said his “strong advice” for those demanding Brazilian butt lifts and tummy tucks was to think carefully before taking up offers that are “too good to be true”.
Several women have lost their lives in recent years after travelling to Turkey for cut-price surgery.
Kaydell Brown, 38, from Sheffield, signed up for multiple ops but died after going into theatre in 2024.
Janet Lynne Savage, 54, from Bangor, also died after major artery trauma during a gastric sleeve weight-loss procedure in Turkey in 2023.
And Anne Towlson, 58, who also travelled to Turkey in April 2024 for a tummy tuck, liposuction and arm-tuck surgery was found dead at home with gaping wounds to her armpits and triceps.
