The British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons have issued the results of a questionnaire asking surgeons if they have had to give emergency treatment to people who have had cosmetic surgery abroad. Unsurprisingly, the answer was yes. This is only the tip of an iceberg – there have been reports of patients returning after “transplant tourism” abroad, where people have paid for kidney transplant operations. What are doctors to do when patients present needing drugs to prevent rejection of the organ, or if a cosmetic surgery wound is badly infected?

BAPRAS says that there is a need for clear guidance as to what doctors should do. Should patients in this situation be made to pay private fees for medical intervention – after all, these are not things that the NHS has instigated, and normally, the team responsible for follow up care are those who did the procedure in the first place. It hardly seems fair that the NHS should be made responsible instead – costing time and money that should have been available to NHS patients. The uncomfortable bit is that doctors should be treating on the basis of need, and by the time there is a complication of surgery abroad, there is usually a need for urgent care. Where is the solution? Can doctors ethically ignore patients with such complications? Or should they simply be billed for their cost to the NHS?