‘I flew to Turkey for gastric sleeve surgery and the experience was horrific’

With glossy websites promising anyone can travel to the sunshine, stay in luxury accommodation and have surgery to “transform” their bodies, all for as little as a fifth of the cost of a single private operation in the UK, it’s easy to see why an estimated 150,000 Britons go under the knife in Turkey every year.

But doctors and health officials are increasingly alarmed by the potential dangers, with at least 25 British citizens dying following surgery in Turkey in the past four years, including two young women in the last month alone.

Morgan Ribeiro, 20, from south London, went into septic shock following weight loss surgery in Istanbul, while Demi Agoglia, 26, from Manchester, died from a pulmonary embolism after undergoing Brazilian butt-lift surgery.

Experts warn some companies are using misleading claims and high-pressure sales tactics to persuade customers to sign up for major surgery in substandard clinics. Concerns are so great that Department of Health representatives travelled to Turkey last November to discuss the issue with health officials there and are continuing to monitor the situation. It follows reports that the cost to the NHS of emergency treatment for patients who had surgery overseas reached £1.7 million in 2022.

According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) in a six-month window last year, three times more corrective surgeries were carried out in patients who had been to Turkey for operations than all other countries combined. 

“We see people who are acutely sick coming off the plane from Istanbul at Heathrow and making their way straight to our A&E,” says Ahmed Ahmed (CORR), a consultant bariatric surgeon at a major London NHS hospital. In his 20-year career, Mr Ahmed, a Royal College of Surgeons of England council member, has never seen so many patients needing corrective surgery after botched weight loss procedures abroad. He now operates on around one patient a fortnight. “It has really exploded in the last five years,” he adds. “It’s frightening.”

Although countries including Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic also offer medical tourism, the industry is booming in Turkey, largely because costs are usually lower than in EU countries and customers are drawn to the idea of having a holiday at the same time.

Private clinic comparison site WhatClinic lists more than 900 plastic surgery providers in the country, around 50 per cent more than in the UK (although just 122 are officially recognised by the Turkish government-backed HealthTurkiye website).

Worldwide, 86 per cent of cosmetic surgery is carried out on women, with 18-34 the most popular age to have a nose job or breast augmentation, and 35-50 the most popular age for liposuction, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS).

Experts fear social media is driving a growing trend for women in their 20s and 30s to have cosmetic and weight loss surgery in Turkey. Patients can be emotionally and financially vulnerable, so are easy prey for unscrupulous clinics.

Marc Pacifico, a leading UK-based plastic surgeon and president of BAAPS, stresses that while Turkey is home to some of the world’s most renowned plastic surgeons, they are unlikely to be those most-promoted on social media or Google search results.

“Many commercially-operated cosmetic tourism companies don’t employ properly qualified surgeons,” he explains. Such companies “bamboozle” prospective clients with psychological marketing techniques, he adds. “There can be a lot of pressure to sign up quickly to get a cheaper price or to agree to a second operation at a cut price before you’ve had the first.” 

An emphasis on sales also means patients are less likely to be fully informed about the risks and possible complications.

Speaking to The Telegraph just before going into theatre to perform corrective surgery on a patient who had been to Turkey, Professor Ash Mosahebi says patients are frequently “sold an idea” which does not match reality.

The consultant plastic surgeon, who works for the NHS in London and the private Organic Aesthetics London clinic, adds: “Quite often the surgeons don’t even see the patients in advance, they are sold the case by a third party. 

“The quality of surgeon can be variable and [patients] are going there almost blind… I see many, many patients with problems which could have been avoided or sorted out earlier.”

There have been multiple reports of Turkish surgeons carrying out preoperative consultations only over the WhatsApp messaging app, performing risky procedures with substandard equipment and failing to give adequate aftercare. 

Patients tell of being left in hotel rooms after surgery without suitable pain relief. In one case anonymously reported by BAAPS, a patient had their wound restitched in a hotel without anaesthetic.

Flights home can be within a few days of surgery, which increases the risk of dangerous blood clots. The NHS recommends waiting at least five to ten days before flying, depending on the type of surgery. 

While complications can happen anywhere, in the UK surgeons have a duty to provide thorough pre-operative assessment and post-operative care. By contrast, some patients may not meet their overseas surgeon before the day of the operation and may not see them again afterwards.

Pinky Jolley, 46, from Merseyside, needed treatment at two NHS hospitals in Liverpool after a botched £2,100 sleeve gastrectomy (also known as a gastric sleeve) in Turkey last November.