First
Where will the surgery actually happen?
The place you consult and the place you are operated on can be different buildings. Some surgeons see patients at a private practice office (a muayenehane) and operate at a hospital. That arrangement is not a warning sign in itself — as long as you know which hospital before you pay.
Of the facilities on this site, we classify 78 as doctors’ offices where surgery is not performed, and list 541 hospitals and university hospitals. Each facility profile states which it is.
BAAPS and TSPRAS recommend that surgery takes place in a fully recognised hospital, which in Türkiye they say might be identified by having at least 30 beds.[BAAPS & TSPRAS]
Standards
Accreditation, and what it does not promise
International accrediting groups — the CDC names Joint Commission International, DNV GL International Accreditation for Hospitals and the International Society for Quality in Healthcare — set standards that a facility must meet to be accredited.[CDC] JCI publishes a search of the organisations it accredits (opens in a new tab).
Accreditation is worth checking, and the CDC is plain about its limit: all surgery carries a risk of complications, and accreditation does not guarantee a good outcome.[CDC] Our facility profiles show an accreditation only where we hold a record of it, with its source.
Walk away
Red flags
Each of these comes from UK health or surgical guidance, or the joint BAAPS and TSPRAS statement.
- You have only ever spoken to salespeople or coordinators, never the surgeon.[NHS]
- You are asked to pay for a hospital you have never seen, or a surgeon you have not met.[NHS]
- Nobody can tell you the name of your surgeon, or how to contact them if there is a problem.[BAAPS & TSPRAS]
- The person presented as a plastic surgeon is not one, or is working outside their specialty.[BAAPS & TSPRAS]
- No consent form has been completed before you travel.[BAAPS & TSPRAS]
- There is no aftercare plan.[BAAPS & TSPRAS]
- They cannot say what happens if there are complications, or where follow-up appointments will be.[NHS]
- They cannot say how the clinic is regulated, what its infection rates are, or what back-up services it has.[BAAPS]
- Surgery is sold as part of a holiday, with sightseeing, sun or swimming planned for afterwards.[NHS]
The other side
What a well-run provider does
The red flags have a simple mirror image, and none of it is a lot to ask of a provider you are trusting with surgery. Before you pay, expect to have:
- met or spoken with the operating surgeon, by name
- the name of the hospital where surgery will take place
- a completed consent form before travel
- an aftercare plan and a direct way to reach the surgical team
- a clear answer on what happens, and who pays, if there is a complication
