Cosmetic surgery tourism is a growing problem. What is being done?

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By Emma Wilkinson

Injuries, infections and even deaths caused by complications of overseas aesthetic procedures have long worried doctors and coroners, and that's before you get to the financial impact on the NHS. Reversing this trend requires far more than warning potential patients.

Just before the abdominoplasty and liposuction Hayley Dowell had flown to Turkey for was due to start, she was offered a last-minute add-on: a discounted Brazilian butt lift.

Tragic outcomes of travelling aboard for cosmetic procedures are rare, but sadly not unique

The 38-year-old mother-of-three agreed to the extra procedure, in which fat is injected into the buttocks, as an "afterthought" only moments before her planned surgery, her husband Neil Dowell said.

Hayley Dowell died after suffering two cardiac arrests following the 2023 surgery in Istanbul, the BBC reported.

Such tragic outcomes of travelling aboard for cosmetic procedures are rare, but sadly not unique.

Coroners and surgeons have previously raised the alarm about the dangers, flagging high-risk operations, patients not meeting their surgeon until the day of the operation, little aftercare and information, and the risk of last-minute extras.