Dodgy overseas surgeries could cost the NHS almost £20,000 per patient, according to new research.
Cheap accommodation and flights have made destinations such as Turkey increasingly popular for people seeking operations – with cosmetic and fat-loss procedures particularly popular.
But the British Medical Journal has found such trips can often backfire, costing the health service back home a considerable amount of money.
Using 14 studies with data from 2006 to 2023, covering several different types of surgery, the journal put the cost to the NHS of medical tourism at between £1,058 and £19,549 per patient.
The new study, published today, says follow-up appointments in the UK can also be complicated by a lack of full information about the initial operation.
Last year, mum-of-four Katrina Marshall told Metro how she ended up fighting for her life after a series of cosmetic surgeries in Turkey.
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The school bus driver paid a company more than £6,000 in a ‘package deal’ for breast implants, a tummy tuck and a Brazilian butt lift procedure in 2022.
However, upon her return to the UK she developed infections which left her in excruciating pain.
She said: ‘For anyone thinking they are saving money by going to have the surgery in Turkey I would say think again.
‘It’s a false economy – if things go wrong it’s better to be in the UK.’
While there is ‘limited information on the frequency and type of complications arising from medical tourism’, the BMJ study says, wound infection and lack of healing are known to be the most common issues.
It adds: ‘We know that complications can be serious and may require treatment in intensive care, further surgery and extensive use ofantibiotics.
‘There are reports of multiple organ failure due to sepsis from wound infection and death due to hypoxic brain injury and cardiac arrest.’
The Royal College of Surgeons of England said the findings show a ‘critical need for reliable national data on how many people this affects’.
Vice President Professor Vivien Lees added: ‘Too often people are drawn in by cut-price deals and glossy online marketing, only to return with serious, sometimes life-changing complications.
‘When things go wrong, the NHS is left to pick up the pieces, often in emergencies and without full information about what surgery was done or by whom.
‘That puts patients at risk and adds avoidable pressure to already stretched services.’
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