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Warnings from Joint BAAPS/BOMSS statement on surgical tourism
The British Assosciation of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons and the British Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Society have recently issued a joint declaration on surgical health tourism due to increasing complication rates.
In the report, it was pointed out that the increasing number of people going abroad for aesthetic and bariatric surgery has increased the rates of serious complications and even death. Aesthetic and Bariatric Surgery Associations stated that they published this joint declaration to draw attention to patient safety and health.
Both associations warned about the risks of health tourism. Against this, economic pressures and advertising bombardment are leading to an increasing number of British patients choosing to travel abroad for surgery. Health professionals point out that an increasing number of patients are presenting with complications following operations performed outside the UK. The management of these complications has the potential to place a heavy burden on the already strained NHS budget. Therefore, a measure could be introduced to ensure that these costs are paid by the patient.
BAAPS and BOMSS recognise that the costs of these operations in the private sector are higher than in many countries. It is stated that the main reason for this is that the health sector is very strictly inspected by CQC in England, HIS in Scotland and HIW in Wales. It is claimed that this inspection ensures that quality, standards and ultimately safety are at the highest possible level. The associations state that not all countries have such inspections and therefore the standards in these countries are not as high as in the UK. BAAPS and BOMSS summarise their specific concerns for patients travelling abroad as follows
What Is Wrong With Medical Tourism?
1-Lack of pre-operative expert assessment, consultation and information
2-Wrong choice of operations and combining several operations at one time
3- Performing a different operation than requested by the patient or not providing sufficient information and documents about the method applied
4-The quality and experience of the team providing the surgery cannot be supervised
5-The long journey following the operation may lead to potentially fatal problems such as clot formation in the veins
6-The occurrence of problems such as nutritional problems or weight gain at a higher rate than it should be due to the absence or inadequate postoperative follow-up and care, and the occurrence of success and high complications below the expected result in plastic surgery.
7-Restricted access to specialists in case of complications, and the majority of GPs do not have experience in these complications
After listing all these reasons, both associations ask patients who are considering travelling abroad for surgery: What is the cost of your life and health?
As Flytocure Healthcare, a health tourism company established in the UK, and its Turkish brand Istanbul Bariatric Centre, we also put our signature under this declaration, and we have been warning British patients for a long time about the dangers of health tourism dominated by non-medical professionals in Turkey, and completely commercially oriented people with cheap competition.
As a bariatric surgery centre that can respond to all the concerns raised by the associations and provides services at UK standards, we announce that we will never compete on price. When you set out with us, we eliminate all your concerns mentioned here with the quality standards below:
What We Offer to Our Patients?
1-When you decide to walk with us in your fight against obesity, you will be consulted by a UK citizen bariatric surgeon and informed in full detail.
2-Selection of the operation is completely tailored to you in the light of international criteria. Using the ACS NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator, the most appropriate and lowest risk method is selected for you. Complication and risk estimates for all possible methods, detailed scientific analyses on targeted success rates are presented to you as a report.
3-The method to be applied to you is decided together in medical consultation, and all your postoperative examination and surgery reports, including images such as endoscopy, ultrasound, leak test, etc. are delivered to you. We would also like to inform you that our practice of delivering the surgery video to the patient without editing is a standard.
4- Your surgery is performed by internationally accredited surgeons who are world-renowned in the field of bariatric surgery. Follow-up processes are also carried out by a team with SRC International Accreditation.
5-The medical history, medications and embolism risks of all bariatric surgery candidates are evaluated at the time of surgery decision. If necessary, changes in medications or the use of blood thinners are decided in communication with your GP.
6-After the surgery, your regular and mandatory controls are carried out by our bariatric dietitians even if you do not request it. In order to avoid any vitamin and mineral deficiency, your regular blood tests will be followed up in co-operation with your GP.
7- In case you need any support in the UK, the necessary support is provided by local bariatric surgery specialists and other consultants.
Your health is your most valuable asset, cost should never be your priority when deciding on surgery abroad. You can contact us to reach UK quality health service with much more reasonable package prices compared to UK figures.
Reference: https://bomss.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/joint_baapsbomss_statement_1.pdf