Turkish plastic surgery clinics let sales staff do assessments

Turkish medical clinics’ sales operations in Britain are being investigated by the health watchdog after they were found to be using unregulated appointments to physically examine young women and sign them up for plastic ­surgery.

An undercover Times reporter attended one appointment in London where a saleswoman who was not a professional medic asked her to undress, examined her and said she could create a treatment plan because “plastic surgery is a bit, I mean, kind of basic”.

Agents for Turkish clinics were willing to sign up the reporter for invasive surgeries including breast augmentation and buttock enhancement surgery — known as a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) — after conversations on WhatsApp.

After making an online inquiry, the reporter was texted by a salesman to say a surgeon in Turkey deemed her a “very suitable candidate” for surgery and she “can achieve a perfect result”.

On Thursday the Care Quality Commission (CQC) began an investigation. A spokesman said it would determine whether the organisations hosting the appointments in England were “operating unlawfully without being correctly registered”.

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Source: The Times, 13 September 2024