Inside UK's deadly, celebrity-inspired craze for Turkish surgery – as campaigners call for patients to pay 'Turkey tax' to help NHS claw back £2m each year to correct botched ops
- Experts call for action on 24 Brits dead, scores more maimed, and £1.7m NHS bill
- Have you had botched surgery abroad? Contact [email protected]
Brits wanting cut-price cosmetic surgery abroad should be made to pay a 'Turkey Tax', experts have today demanded amid calls for a crackdown to stop more Brits dying unnecessarily.
Tens of thousands of Brits, particularly women in their 20s and 30s, flock to Europe for boob jobs, bum lifts and lip enhancements every year.
Turkey has become one of the most popular destinations, fuelled by celebrities and influencers who've made the four-hour trip in pursuit of revamping their bodies.
Clinics also offer luxurious 'all-inclusive' packages at five-star hotels, complete with meals and VIP transport. Such deals, on sale for in the region of £2,500, include the treatments themselves.
But despite seeming safe on the surface, Turkey is called the 'capital of butchery' by campaigners.
Dozens of ordinary patients have shared their horror stories at the hands of 'cowboy' surgeons, including some who needed life-saving treatment as soon as they landed back on UK soil. Correcting such botched ops costs taxpayers millions every year.
At least 24 Brits have also died going under the knife in Turkey since 2019, where standards are notoriously laxer than in the NHS. Surgical aftercare can be non-existent, too, argue victims of the procedures.
MailOnline will this weekend expose many of the underhanded tactics deployed by predatory Turkish clinics to lure Brits overseas.
![Turkish clinics offer packages including VIP airport transfers in 'luxury vehicles' and 5-star hotel stays with breakfast. Some even promise free tours of cities like Istanbul and the choice to take another guest at no additional cost, as well as 24/7 emergency lines, overnight nurse visits and even massages](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/17/10/73294497-12246215-image-a-26_1689587381456.jpg)
Turkish clinics offer packages including VIP airport transfers in 'luxury vehicles' and 5-star hotel stays with breakfast. Some even promise free tours of cities like Istanbul and the choice to take another guest at no additional cost, as well as 24/7 emergency lines, overnight nurse visits and even massages
![Liposuction that offers to remove up to 15 litres of fat, Brazilian butt lifts, eye colour-changing laser treatments and hymenoplasties are all offered in clinics across Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/14/18/72658811-12246215-Liposuction_that_offers_to_remove_up_to_15_litres_of_fat_Brazili-a-57_1689355326645.jpg)
Liposuction that offers to remove up to 15 litres of fat, Brazilian butt lifts, eye colour-changing laser treatments and hymenoplasties are all offered in clinics across Turkey
Dawn Knight, a prolific campaigner against poor cosmetic surgery, is one of those urging the Government to immediately crack down on the tactics.
She told this website: 'Something has to change.
'A compulsory insurance of some sort should be introduced, so that the NHS can recoup the costs.
'We can't continue in this way with a struggling NHS, no money to pay doctors and nurses what they deserve yet our NHS picks up the bill for botched surgery abroad.'
Labour MP Kevan Jones is another urging action, saying the Government must act to bring 'cowboy surgeons' to account and that 'anybody considering cosmetic surgery should not go to Turkey'.
British surgeons have also told MailOnline that Turkey's cosmetic clinics are using the NHS as a safety net for poor surgical care.
Estimates put the beleaguered health service's botched surgery bill for 2022 alone at about £1.7million, a record figure that is itself considered a gross underestimate of the problem.
![Dawn Knight, who has campaigned against poor practices in cosmetic surgery, said Turkish medics treat the UK as a honeypot and something must be done](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/10/16/64696061-12246215-Dawn_Knight_who_has_campaigned_against_poor_practises_in_cosmeti-a-7_1689001977204.jpg)
Dawn Knight, who has campaigned against poor practices in cosmetic surgery, said Turkish medics treat the UK as a honeypot and something must be done
Brits themselves have shared horrific stories of the injuries they have suffered at the hands of Turkish clinics with some taking months to heal, if ever.
Some ex-patients have told this website of being stitched up so tight their wounds burst open when they moved, with others describing being left with necrotic nipples from botched boob jobs.
While Turkey isn't the only surgical destination, it is by far one of the most popular.
Cheap flights between the UK and Turkish cities have made it one of the leading destinations for Brits wanting to go under the knife.
Part of the reason is the rise of 'all-inclusive' surgical holiday deals that are marketed to Brits looking for cosmetic surgery to entice them to Turkish clinics.
Turkish clinics frequently offer such packages including VIP airport transfers in 'luxury vehicles' and 5-star hotel stays with breakfast included to sweeten the deal.
![One Istanbul-based surgery has partnered with British OnlyFans model Phoebe Bartlett to offer her followers a £100 discount code](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/14/16/71442495-12246215-One_Istanbul_based_surgery_has_partnered_with_British_OnlyFans_m-m-24_1689347797765.jpg)
One Istanbul-based surgery has partnered with British OnlyFans model Phoebe Bartlett to offer her followers a £100 discount code
![Experts say TOWIE icons have helped fuel the ever-growing trend for cut-price cosmetic surgery abroad. Pictured left to right: Amber Turner, Yazmin Oukhellou, Dani Imbert, Junaid Ahmed, Megan McKenna, Bobby Norris and Lauren Goodger](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/13/14/73133693-12246215-image-a-3_1689255957731.jpg)
Experts say TOWIE icons have helped fuel the ever-growing trend for cut-price cosmetic surgery abroad. Pictured left to right: Amber Turner, Yazmin Oukhellou, Dani Imbert, Junaid Ahmed, Megan McKenna, Bobby Norris and Lauren Goodger
![British surgeons have raised the alarm about the rising cost of fixing botched cosmetic ops performed overseas, with one case alone costing the NHS an estimated £100,000](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/14/17/73123905-12246215-British_surgeons_have_raised_the_alarm_about_the_rising_multi_mi-a-15_1689351104033.jpg)
British surgeons have raised the alarm about the rising cost of fixing botched cosmetic ops performed overseas, with one case alone costing the NHS an estimated £100,000
MailOnline found some cosmetic surgery packages in Turkey being sold for under £3,000.
But UK surgeons and the NHS itself advise against buying cosmetic surgery as part of a holiday, warning it 'trivialises' the life-changing decision and underplays the rest and recovery needed after a major operation.
Another recent tactic used by Turkish clinics, uncovered by this website, is the use of OnlyFans models to promote surgical procedures to body-conscious British women.
In some cases, adult stars are even teaming up with clinics to offer discount codes to 'get a body' like their own.
Celebrities also have a role to play in popularising the trend of heading to Turkey for quick surgical touch-up.
Whether its BBLs, lipo, boob jobs or even Turkey teeth, reality stars have piled on the pressure for Brits to go under the knife abroad, campaigners say.
Once committed to have a procedure in Turkey, Brits will have an array of procedures to select from that aren't generally offered in the UK.
But as surgeons have told MailOnline, that is often for a very good reason.
These can range from 'extreme BBLs' to 'mega liposuctions' that no reputable UK surgeon would dream of attempting.
Numerous Turkish clinics even offer the banned 'virginity repair' surgery, a procedure made illegal in the UK over its role in honour-based violence.
![Labour MP for North Durham Kevan Jones is campaigning for more action to stop overseas 'cowboy' surgeons butchering Brits abroad](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/07/10/16/64696267-12246215-Labour_MP_for_North_Durham_Kevan_Jones_MP_is_campaigning_for_mor-m-5_1689001710045.jpg)
Labour MP for North Durham Kevan Jones is campaigning for more action to stop overseas 'cowboy' surgeons butchering Brits abroad
It is not just a wider range of surgery that is on offer, but a wider range of patients as well.
Some Turkish surgeons show a remarkably willingness to perform cosmetic procedures on British patients deemed too fat, unhealthy, or with health conditions that make them too high-risk to go under the knife in Britain.
One UK surgeon described a case where a morbidly obese, 60-year-old wheelchair-bound woman with a host of health conditions was offered a combined tummy tuck and liposuction in Turkey.
The result was a series of life-saving NHS health interventions to stop deadly blood clots and flesh-eating infections upon her return to the UK, at a cost of £100,000 to the taxpayer.
UK surgeons have said the above case is just one example of how some Turkish clinics are using Britain's health service as their surgical aftercare service, part of why their procedures are so cheap in the first place.
And there are signs the problem is only getting worse.
Figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) show the total number of overseas cosmetic operations being fixed on the NHS in 2022 was 35 per cent higher than the previous year.
What experts at the time hoped was just pent-up demand after the Covid pandemic disrupted international air-travel is looking more like a booming business model for Turkey's cosmetic surgery industry.
Most watched News videos
- Scene after boulder comes crashing down at a cafe in Kensington
- David Axelrod weighs in on Kamala Harris' CNN interview
- Barcelona Police skits reveal tricks employed by pickpockets
- 'We are dying, can you help us please?' Migrant's desperate 999 call
- Police and fire crews on site after road accident kills three in Wales
- Paedophile arrested after he's caught sending explicit images to kids
- Scene after man in wheelchair is stabbed to death in Clapton
- CCTV shows moment stalker approaches Holly Newton before stabbing her
- Trump reveals how he will vote on Florida 6-week abortion ban
- Trump weighs in on Kamala's long-awaited first interview
- The bloody battle for the hill Putin's desperate to capture
- Moment vigilante pickpocket hunter 'exposes criminals' in London