It costs the NHS up to £19,000 per patient to treat complications after medical tourism, according to a new study.
The report, by academics at several Welsh universities, also highlighted examples of increased pressures on general practice as a result of overseas medical procedures.
The researchers reviewed studies between 2012 and 2024 that focused on 655 patients treated by the NHS for postoperative complications. Of the 655 patients, 385 were treated following overseas metabolic/bariatric surgeries, 265 for cosmetic surgeries, and five for eye surgeries.
The most common procedures were sleeve gastrectomy, breast surgery enlargement, and ‘tummy tuck’ (abdominoplasty).
The report found evidence of costs to the NHS ranging from £1,058 to £19,549 per patient in 2024 prices from 14 of the studies, although the ‘certainty of evidence’ for these costs was ‘very low’.
A case study of patients at one GP practice in Northern Ireland found 47 patients (from a patient population of 11,372) over a seven-year period required follow-up in primary care after having bariatric surgery either outside Northern Ireland or privately. One patient had 15 GP encounters and 28 practice nurse appointments.
No patient deaths were reported in the included studies, but at least 196 patients (53%) experienced moderate to severe surgical complications. Most patients were women (90%), and the average age of patients included in studies was 38 – although the youngest known case was aged just 14.
However, the report’s authors noted that because data on the use, frequency, and consequences for the NHS was ‘incomplete and haphazard’, with some areas of the UK underrepresented in the existing literature, the reported impact on the NHS is likely to be greater.
The report comes after a survey last year revealed three quarters of UK GPs and practice nurses had seen patients with complications from having surgery overseas in the previous year.
Some 74% of respondents in the survey of more than 1,500 GPs and practice nurses said they had seen at least one such case in the past year, and a quarter reported seeing between two and nine patients.
Responding to the report, Professor Azeem Majeed, a GP and head of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London, said medical tourism presented a risk to patients of missing out on ‘structured follow-up, continuity of care, and clear routes back to the operating team’ they would typically receive within the NHS.
He said: ‘GPs are frequently the first point of contact and must manage patient distress, clinical uncertainty and the need for urgent referral, often without clear guidance or established care pathways.
‘These cases place additional pressure on general practice, both clinically and administratively. Patients typically require longer consultations, coordination with secondary care, and careful risk management, all within already stretched services. In addition, the NHS ends up absorbing the cost and workload of managing complications from procedures that were not planned or delivered within the UK healthcare system.
‘This highlights the need for better patient awareness of the risks involved in overseas medical treatment, clearer pathways for managing post-procedure complications, and recognition of the additional burden placed on NHS services — including general practice, emergency departments, and specialist teams.’
Sarah Townley, deputy medical director at the Medical Protection Society (MPS), said: ‘The risk of surgical tourism to patients and the cost to the NHS when secondary interventions are required – often due to packages not including post-operative care – are concerning. It is also important to recognise the difficulties clinicians face when they are asked to manage patients returning home with complications.
‘The complications can be complex, doctors are unlikely to have access to patient records or post-surgery plans, and there can be uncertainty around consent and clinical responsibility. This can result in medicolegal issues and members are frequently contacting us for advice. There is an urgent need for greater public awareness of the risks of surgical tourism, to ensure patients are undertaking adequate research and making informed decisions.’
Local medical committees have previously told GP practices they can decline patient requests for routine aftercare in the first two years after private bariatric surgery undertaken abroad.
This story first appeared on our sister title Pulse.
