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British Plastic Surgery Group Warns Patients Against Makeovers
Date: 13/06/2006 5:15 AM
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May 19 -- Britain's largest group of plastic surgeons is warning patients to avoid unnecessary operations as more clinics offer discounts for multiple procedures.
``You run the risk that people will have surgery they wouldn't otherwise have chosen to have themselves,' Douglas McGeorge, president-elect of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in London, said in a telephone interview. ``The number of people who need total makeovers is very small.'
The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the U.K. by members of the association increased 35 percent to 22,041 in 2005, with breast augmentation rising 51 percent. The passion for makeovers has spilled into Britain from the U.S., as television producers mimic American television shows and magazines track the changing looks of Hollywood celebrities.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, known as BAAPS, this week singled out Transform Medical Group, a network of 22 clinics across the U.K. that's offering a makeover package.
The work includes breast enlargement, fat removal and body sculpting, with a saving of as much as 2,000 pounds ($3,770) for having the operations together.
Based in Hale, northwest England, Transform calls its offer the ``Bikini Body Transformation Package' and costs 6,990 pounds with the discount for liposuction, cellulite treatment and a ``mini tummy tuck.' Anyone undergoing surgery in May or June will receive a 200-pound voucher for a holiday at Thomas Cook and patients will be able to collect loyalty points.
Responding to Demand
The package was a response to customer demand, according to Anna Lancashire, a spokeswoman for Transform. Patients have 14 days to change their minds with no charge, she said.
``We're not advising people to have half price fat removal if they don't want it,' she said. ``The packages came about because patients started asking for them, and the vouchers were intended as a thank you for patients who have already booked surgery.'
Transform has expanded since being bought by the Covenant Healthcare Group in 2003 and has opened two new clinics so far this year after starting three last year.
The proliferation of plastic surgery and television programs broadcasting surgery is concerning BAAPS and lobby groups such as Action Against Medical Actions.
Peter Walsh, director of the group, which campaigns for patients seeking redress in cases of clinical negligence, has called for better regulation.
``The area of cosmetic surgery and cosmetic treatment generally is urgently in need of better regulation,' he said in an interview. ``It is a medical accident waiting to happen.'
TV Influence
Men and women in Britain spent 225 million pounds on bodywork in 2003, according to Key Note, a market researcher based in Hampton near London. More recent data is hard to come by because no single body tracks the industry.
Breast enlargements in the U.K. can cost between 4,050 pounds and 4,650 pounds, according to British United Provident Association Ltd., a U.K. private health insurance provider. Face lifts can cost as much as 9,000 pounds.
As well as the thousands of people applying to a new crop of television shows such as ``Extreme Makeover' and ``Ten Years Younger,' others are flying to places such as Hungary and Spain to have work done more cheaply.
The increase in surgery is ``quite dramatic,' Rajiv Grover, consultant plastic surgeon and a council member of BAAPS, said in an interview from London. ``People are focusing on the word cosmetic when they should be focusing on the word surgery.'
Showing Off
Deputy Controller of LivingTV Hannah Barnes, who brought ``Extreme Makeover' to the U.K., sees no difference between a surgeon and a stylist on television.
``Surgeons are experts in their area, like a hairdresser is, and they're getting an opportunity to show off what they do and be involved,' she said in an interview.
Such shows have fueled the interest in surgery, according to Lancashire, Transform's spokeswoman. The company, which has been operating for 30 years, offers a ``Ten Years Younger' makeover, offering treatments featured on a U.K. show, she said.
``People see these programs and what they can have done and have been asking about makeovers,' Lancashire said. Transform, though, doesn't promote ``long and major surgery,' she said.
Prospective patients are ill-informed about the dangers of procedures and patients run the risk of being influenced by magazine advertising and special offers, said Roz Howe at the U.K. Health Commission, an independent watchdog for U.K. health care.
``Quite often the entrepreneurial side takes off very quickly,' Howe said in an interview from London. ``When the regulation was written, it didn't take that into consideration.'
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