cosmetic surgery uk

Finding a Surgeon for Cosmetic Surgery UK

The British Association of Cosmetic Surgeons (BACS) shows that patients will find a doctor by:


  • Contacting the British Association of Cosmetic Surgeons directly.
  • Seeking the referral using their General Practitioner.
  • Patient recommendation.
  • Contacting a clinic that advertises to the public.


How to Contact the BACS – British Association of Cosmetic Surgeons

A reliable source of recommended cosmetic surgeons, if you are seeking to have cosmetic surgery UK, can be found on the British Association of Cosmetic Surgeons’ internet web site: www.b-a-c-s.co.uk. These doctors are all either members of the BACS or associate members of the BACS.


The majority of surgeons also have their own web sites, and these can be accessed from the BACS website. Potential patients are therefore able to learn more about a particular doctor or surgeon and/or procedure or operation before getting in touch with him.


Your General Practitioner / Doctor

This is basically the method of recommendation endorsed by the General Medical Council (GMC). It started well before the beginning of the NHS, when it had been considered dishonest and indeed unethical for a surgeon / consultant to be able to accept private patients, unless of course they were referred directly through their GP (general practitioner). This system was formulated to prevent unethical consultants touting for business and new patients and giving them inappropriate treatment. Nonetheless, numerous patients desperate to undergo cosmetic surgery would rather that their Doctor is not advised nor made aware of their intentions. There are several reasons with regard to this.


Quite a few patients are merely too shy, nervous or ashamed and embarrassed to approach their Doctor for fear of being made fun of or dissuaded from having their choice of treatment. Some don’t want to trouble their over-worked general practitioner with an issue concerning an element of vanity when he or she is possibly busy with other more important healthcare issues. A few patients might have already seen their Doctor, who advised against having any treatment, and they also would like a second opinion. Other people may have been referred by their own GP to a surgeon with whom they didn’t have a connection or good rapport and they would prefer to be seen by another surgeon.


Many are concerned that that their reasons would be made public due to the nature of the referral system. This, out of necessity, involves the doctor’s staff, who they fear might reveal their ‘little secret’ to others within their community.


A few patients admit to not being familiar with their Doctor and would rather to avoid him completely. Others are simply just not registered with a General practitioner. A few have freely admitted they have little trust or belief in their Doctor and wouldn’t ever contemplate approaching him or her with such a sensitive, personal as well as private issue.


Although, increasingly more and more doctors know about the huge benefits that cosmetic surgery can provide and are completely sympathetic as well as helpful, you may still find a number who’re much less enthusiastic and also who strongly attempt to discourage any prospective patients.


The majority of cosmetic surgeons actually receive very few referrals from doctors.


Clinics that Advertise to the Public

Recently there has been an enormous increase in the amount of establishments, so-called advisory centres and clinics providing cosmetic surgery to the public. A number of these places are operated by non-medically qualified individuals who regard it as a fast way of making money easily.


The key reason why these establishments have increased in quantity over time is that, until fairly recently, it was an offence for doctors to advertise and promote their services and knowledge to everyone. This could cause the specialist to be struck off and removed from the medical register.


It had been, however, completely legal for any non-medically qualified person to setup a limited company or organization offering cosmetic-surgical treatment services. This company could utilize the services of a surgeon as well as anaesthetist so long as their names were not published.


Fortunately, with the adjustments to GMC guidelines, the general public is now capable of getting direct access to the doctors, and they therefore have a wider choice in being able to select the one they wish to carry out their surgical procedures or treatment.


The BACS recommends anyone considering using a clinic or medical centre that advertises openly to the general public, to be sure that they see the operating surgeon in a pre-operative consultation well ahead of the day of surgical treatment. If the doctor is not a BACS member, they need to make sure they are handled in accordance with, or along comparable lines to, the BACS Code of Practice. In addition, you should find out about the doctor’s experience, qualifications, and evidence of previous operations and procedures performed (e.g. pre- as well as post-operative pictures of the doctor’s work, even though it would be almost impossible to show beyond doubt that these were actually photographs of his or her work), and to observe as many recommendations and testimonials from previous patients as you possibly can.


Additionally, it is better that patients should only be seen by the actual operating surgeon and never by any other party. Numerous clinics utilize so-called ‘counsellors’ — who are usually not medically qualified, but are merely sales people — to lure prospective patients into having surgery. Such a practice is dangerous and can very easily result in patients receiving misleading information, which can create problems at a later stage. Having cosmetic surgery is a very private and personal decision and depends on a particularly good patient-doctor relationship, and shouldn’t include the involvement of any other party. A few commercial cosmetic surgery UK clinics are certainly well run and employ competent doctors who effectively and successfully perform a lot of cosmetic procedures.


Recommendation from Another Patient

This really is arguably the very best and most definite way of getting a referral to a surgeon who has at least demonstrated that he or she is actually competent at carrying out the procedure. The majority of surgeons who don’t advertise, get nearly all their brand new patients through referrals from satisfied patients who they have already treated.


The disadvantage here is that many patients won’t openly or even freely acknowledge to having undergone cosmetic surgery, therefore a potential patient might not know whether any of their own friends or acquaintances has actually had any surgical treatment.


It is advisable to opt for Cosmetic surgery UK rather than cheap cosmetic surgery abroad, at all costs.