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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor

NHS having to ‘pick up pieces’ of medical tourism ‘boom’, say doctors

There are also concerns over patients buying weight loss drugs such as Wegovy without receiving the necessary ‘wraparound’ care.
There are also concerns over patients buying weight loss drugs such as Wegovy without receiving the necessary ‘wraparound’ care. Photograph: Caiaimage/Robert Daly/Getty Images

The NHS is having to provide emergency care to rising numbers of patients suffering serious complications following weight loss surgery and hair transplants abroad amid a “boom” in medical tourism, doctors have warned.

Medics said they were being left to “pick up the pieces” as more Britons seeking cheap operations overseas return with infections and other issues. In some cases, patients are dying as a result of botched surgeries performed in other countries.

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