by Marianne Green, 30, is one of an estimated 150,000 Britons who have flown to Turkey for cosmetic surgery in the past year. The experience was “brilliant,” she says. “Our hotel stay in Istanbul was included in the price. They picked me up from the airport, took me to my hotel, took me to my appointments.”
Green paid £3,100 for breast implants and chose to go to Turkey in April for the same reason many people flock to clinics across Europe for cosmetic surgery: cost. “It’s cheaper overseas,” she says. Comments from plastic surgeons near her home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, came “around the £7,000 mark.” Green paid less than half that and got a holiday with her partner at a four-star hotel in an organized market.
This week, it was announced that the company SK:N Clinics, which owns cosmetic surgery firm Harley Medical Group, had collapsed. Its website has been replaced with a static message saying: “The company has undertaken an extensive process to secure investment to continue trading, but unfortunately we have been unsuccessful.”
The Birmingham-based company, founded in 1990, was one of the first capitalists of the cosmetic surgery boom in Britain. It was one of the largest suppliers in the nation, with 70 branches across the UK. Across its brands, it offered services ranging from acne and rosacea treatment to breast surgery, rhinoplasty and liposuction. Its collapse reflects a wider problem facing the British cosmetic surgery industry – how can it complement much cheaper sun and surgery packages offered abroad?
Figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) published earlier this year show a challenging climate. A total of 25,972 surgical procedures were carried out in the UK in 2023, a 16 per cent drop from the previous year. Some of the most popular cosmetic procedures for younger women saw a big drop: breast augmentation was down 26 percent, breast reduction was down 17 percent, and abdominoplasty (“tummy tuck”) was down 19 percent.
BAAPS president Marc Pacifico said: “This trend appears to be consistent with the increase in the number of people choosing to travel abroad to destinations such as Turkey. However, this choice comes with significant consequences, not only for the individuals undergoing surgery abroad but also for the NHS, which often has the burden of correcting complications when patients return to the UK. “
The difference in price is significant. Before it went under, the fees for the most common cosmetic procedures offered by the Harley Medical Group ranged from £4,850 for liposuction to £9,950 for resurfacing. Other British private practitioners charged more than double that. But at a popular Turkish clinic, liposuction starts from £3,000 and facelifts from £3,300. An uncertain economic climate in the UK, coupled with a boom in medical tourism, means British cosmetic surgery providers are struggling to compete.
Dr Ash Soni is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with clinics in Ascot, Berkshire, and London. “As a general trend, people are looking at European countries to go to simply to save money,” he says, with Turkey being the most popular destination. “And I can tell you that every month we get calls from people who have gone and had a problem or difficulties from these countries. People are doing it to save money, but with the issues that may arise, they have to call someone [closer to home] take care of him anyway.”
He admits this is a challenge for the industry. Surgeons serving international patients with more disposable income – in Soni’s case, this includes patients traveling from Dubai – outperform those treating UK-only patients, who are spending less across the boards. “I’m grateful that my clinics, especially my London clinics, are targeting a UK audience and an international audience,” he says. “That helps with the number of procedures I do a day.”
Meanwhile, Britons – especially younger women – continue to travel to cheaper countries in Europe, where results can vary widely. Patients who opt for a cut-price package abroad “can generally expect a worse outcome,” says Soni. In the UK, 10-15 years of training is required to become a specialist, but some in Turkey may be trained for three years. Soni says that some clinics offer non-surgical procedures such as filler or Botox for “less than what I buy my materials for, which tells you all about [materials] they are using in that clinic.”
“You can generally expect that the conditions will not be the same as they were here,” he says. “People are throwing themselves into a hotel room and all that stuff, but when pressure comes and there’s a problem that’s developed as a result, patients are being left stranded.” In the UK “you are paying for the skill of the supplier, and the quality of the products used.”
Soni is one of many practitioners and experts who have raised concerns about the safety of some procedures abroad. At the far end of the spectrum, there were rumors that surgeons were mainly consulting via WhatsApp and failing to provide adequate aftercare. At least 25 British citizens have died after surgery in Turkey in the past four years.
This is not to say that most patients who have visited clinics in Turkey are not satisfied with the results. Green used Clinic Center and says, “I am confident in the level of support they have provided.” She recovered very quickly: “They took me back to my hotel the next day and provided a translator so I could understand everything that was going on. I was up and about within three to four hours of my surgery,” she says. “The next day, I was out of the hospital, shopping, everything. I had a check-up appointment two days after the operation.” Her procedure included a four-night stay in hospital (the NHS recommends not flying for five to seven days after breast surgery).
Like many people, Green heard about the clinic through social media: “I follow famous people on Instagram and I saw one person, who Hollyoaks and Coronation Street star, that used the same clinic [in Turkey]. So I went with them.”
For her, it was worth the risk of flying abroad for a better deal. “It has boosted my confidence; now I don’t mind wearing low-cut tops and dresses. I’m happy to wear a bikini on holiday.” Compared to sun, sand and cut price surgery, British surgeons cannot compete.
