A Turkish medical company is offering cheap plastic surgery in time for Christmas, a Mirror probe has revealed, sparking safety fears for British patients.
The deals were promoted at an event in Hull, where dental and cosmetics firm Magic Touch offered free consultations to people interested in travelling to Turkey for treatment. A Mirror reporter enquired about having a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). At least three Brits have died having gone to Turkey for the procedure. In a 30-minute consultation, “patient co-ordinator” Sevil admitted having no medical credentials, yet brazenly outlined a treatment plan for our reporter to have “bum implants”.
She offered a discount on flights and advised booking by January to avoid price rises, saying the operation could be done as soon as December 22. Sevil said: “It’s better to come before next year because there is a change – at the beginning of next year they change the price of the hospital.” She said prices could go up by 10%. She said buttock-enlarging was “very popular” in Turkey as it is “expensive in the UK”, and insisted implants “never” went wrong, despite a string of serious risks associated with it.
Professor Mani Ragbir, President of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, said he was “very, very concerned” about our findings. He said: “We should not be bombarding people into surgery. Telling you that if you come now you will avoid a price increase next month is not the sort of thing we advocate or are happy with. It’s just bad practice.” Risks that should have been highlighted include the possibility of an embolism, infection, bleeding, scars, wound-healing problems and “asymmetry” in the buttocks.
Prof Ragbir said: “Some procedures are more straightforward than others, but there’s always a risk to even the simplest operation. Certainly, a marketing person telling you about an operation and telling you there’s no risk is really not appropriate. We would be very, very concerned about that.”
Last year, Turkey welcomed 1.2 million British medical tourists, but 2023 is on track to exceed that, with 746,290 in the first half of this year. Fixing botched surgery cost the NHS £1.7million in 2022, up 35% from 2021. The UK government says it will meet Turkish authorities to discuss regulations. Since 2019, at least 25 Brits have died after travelling there for treatment. They include Melissa Kerr, 31, who died in Istanbul in 2019 after a fatal clot travelled to her lungs during a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Lake raised concerns that not given enough information was given before Melissa travelled abroad. Prof Ragbir, a plastic surgeon at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said he was “very, very worried” about patient safety following our probe. He said: “If patients have a problem, often they cannot contact the surgeon or clinic where they had the work done. Then they turn to us. It’s taking up a lot of resources and time in the NHS.”
Up to 240 people are thought to have attended the two-day event in Hull last weekend. Magic Touch, whose website promises “expert surgeons” and “best prices”, is understood to have also offered consultations in Southampton, Manchester and Edinburgh. Another is scheduled next month in Middlesbrough. Our reporter was asked to fill in a basic medical history form prior to the consultation. She was briefly examined by “patient coordinator” Sevil. When pressed on her credentials, Sevil said: “Not medical. I feel like nurse. I watched the surgeries.”
Sevil said bum implants would be more suitable than the type of Brazilian Butt Lift surgery that involves removing fat from other areas and injecting it into the buttocks. And she told the reporter that she would only undergo medical tests, meet the surgeon in person and find out what size the implants would be on arrival in Turkey. She said: “Until you’re happy, we will not start the surgery.”
She said the surgeon who would perform the procedure had 15 years’ experience. She said: “You need to be careful right now, there are lots of new clinics and new surgeons and they just make it cheaper just to have patients and experience.” Sevil told our reporter she would be discharged around three days after the surgery and spend 10 days recovering at a hotel, describing it as a “health holiday”.
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When asked if the surgery ever went wrong, Sevil said: “No, no. With the BBL? No, never happen.” But when pressed on the risks, Sevil said that having fat injected into the buttocks was riskier than implants. She said: “You put an implant and you get the really good result and no risk. That’s why [there is] no need to be worried.”
Sevil quoted £7,000 for the procedure and accommodation, and urged our investigator to book within the next two months to avoid price hikes of up to 10% in 2024. She said: “If you come by the end of this year – I need to ask for January, I’m not sure – we cover £150 of your flight.”
The company’s website also boasts of “finance options” that allow patients to “Borrow up to £50,000 and spread the cost of your Magic Touch treatment up to 7 years”. At the end of the appointment, Sevil hugged our reporter, and another Magic Touch employee told her: “You’ll be very, very happy. But – this is the real problem – once you start, you’ll never stop.”
Sevil said that she would be contactable during the reporter’s recovery in Antalya and later in the UK. She added: “if you have any problems, you will be able to come to Turkey [...] we will cover all the costs [...but] all will be fine.” That evening, Sevil sent our investigator a string of available dates for surgery, including December 22, plus a more detailed medical questionnaire.
Prof Ragbir highlighted General Medical Council regulations that recommend a two-week “cooling-off” period between a patient’s initial consultation and agreeing to an op. The GMC’s powers only extend to doctors who are on the UK medical register, so Magic Touch is not flouting regulations by offering dates so quickly. Prof Ragbir said: “The reason we follow these regulations is exactly what [the Mirror] encountered. We don’t want to be pressuring other people into having surgery. If a surgeon in this country doesn’t follow the cooling-off period, they can certainly be sued from that.”
Dawn Knight, of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners, warned that the use of financial incentives “preys on the vulnerabilities of the public, seeking to capitalise on an ‘in-the-moment’ decision”. She said: “The worry is that the adverts for these roadshows or consultations give the public the impression that they will indeed meet the surgeon that day, when in reality they are meeting a sales team, often with no medical knowledge and in no way able to assess suitability for a procedure.” Magic Touch offers a range of procedures including breast enlargement, liposuction and facelifts. They did not respond to the concerns raised in our investigation.