British patients with a cheap operation abroad bring dangerous super bugs back to the VK, nurses have warned.
Some NHS hospitals have seen a peak of 30 percent in cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria-somewhat fatal if it enters blood flow that is affected by patients returning from operations abroad.
NHS nurses said they had seen an increase in cases of ‘horrible wounds’, infection, sepsis and patients who die of complications after the foreign operation in the last two years and suggested that foreign clinics should pay the NHS compensation when things go wrong.
The growing number of British patients who have to deal with long NHS watch lists and high costs for private surgery in the UK travel abroad for cheap surgery, usually to Turkey and Eastern European countries.
About 5000 patients had the 4,500 people who had the procedure on the NHS in 2021-22 in 2024 people who had the 4500 people, according to a BMJ report.
Waiting times for weight loss operation on the NHS can take a maximum of four years.
Some British patients are tempted abroad by social media marketing that promotes large surgery -like stomach intermediate activities or cosmetic procedures -as part of ‘Luxury Package Holidays’, the Royal College of Nursing Annual Conference has been heard this week.
But infection control measures in countries outside the EU can be considerably less rigorous than those in the UK.
In 2024, about 5,000 patients had the weighting procedures of the 4,500 people who had the procedure on the NHS in 2021-22 abroad, according to a BMJ report
Various procedures that are not offered in the UK are performed by surgeons in Turkey
Here strict rules ensure that operational theaters regularly have inspections, are good ventilation and surgeons use new or sterilized equipment for each patient.
Nykomoma Hamilton, a nurse from the FIFE infection control, in Scotland, said that patients who returned from treatment abroad were increasingly infected with bacteria resistant to the strongest antibiotics used to treat the most serious infections – a group of drugs named Carbapenems.
She told the conference: “Our worries relate to the fact that many people are colonized with many extensive drug -resistant organisms.”
NHS hospitals and clinics in its area had registered an ‘almost 30 percent’ increase in the detection of carbapenem-resistant bacteria, she said, who described the super bug as the ‘absolute opaddy of resistance’.
District nurse Nicola Smith, from Slough, said that she had been ‘really shocked’ by some of the ‘horrible wounds’ and infections she had seen in people who had returned from surgery abroad.
In one case she treated a young woman who operates abroad for skin removal after weight loss.
Two weeks later, the patient’s great thighs were only kept loosely together with stitches, the tissue died and she had developed sepsis.
“It is really sad because this procedure was sold to her as a holiday package – the only thing she told me was how fantastic the hotel was after she had undergone her operation and that they brought her back to a chic car,” she said.
‘A hotel is beautiful, but it is not a place to be if you are in pain, if there is an infection if you have serious complications.
“There was no blood pressure tests, no aftercare for this woman. I am in fact surprised that she has fallen back on the run. It’s really scary. ‘
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) has given a warning about the risk of infection of surgery abroad and say: “Some people come back with multi-resistant bacteria that are difficult to treat and others can infect.”
The number of antibiotic -resistant infections in the United Kingdom grew by 7 percent before the pandemic, an increase of approximately 62,000 in 2019 to nearly 67,000 in 2023, according to figures from the British health security agency.
Nurses said that the RCN debate patients had to be free to choose where they had treatment, but that they needed better information about checking clinics was safe and which aftercare would be provided.
And they suggested that the NHS should not bear the burden for errors made abroad.
Mrs. Hamilton said that foreign clinics should cover patients with an insurance policy, so that the NHS could claim compensation if it had to treat complications later.
A study published by the BBC last year showed that NHS hospitals spend more complications on treating complications of people who had a cheap operation abroad than when offering treatment to NHS patients.
Complications include infections, sepsis, excessive bleeding and severe malnutrition.
After the debate, RCN head of the nurse Carli Whittaker said: ‘The trend of patients traveling to other countries can cause difficulties, including adequate aftercare once at home and the risk of infection after surgery.
‘Very high waiting lists are a prominent factor, in which some decide to pursue treatment abroad instead of being forced to wait for months, sometimes years, in the UK. Nursing staff will always provide the best care for those who suffer from the complications of surgery abroad, but the problem must be tackled at the root. ‘
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has encouraged people to ‘think very carefully’ before they go abroad for an operation – warning that the NHS will be left to ‘tackle the pieces’.
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