A new study has uncovered that the NHS faces high costs from patients seeking elective surgery abroad, finding that treatment costs for complications from 'medical tourism' range from £1,058 to £19,549 per patient.
The review, conducted by Health Technology Wales in collaboration with the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre , examined published evidence on the impact of outward medical tourism - people who travel abroad for elective medical treatment - on the NHS. It focused on postoperative complications, associated costs and any potential benefits to the health service. The researchers found that complications from elective surgery carried out abroad are placing a growing and costly burden on the NHS, with some patients requiring lengthy hospital stays, multiple surgical procedures and complex care on their return to the UK.
Professor Adrian Edwards, Co-Director of the Division of Population Medicine at Cardiff University and Director of the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre, said: "Outward medical tourism, where people seek elective medical treatment in a different country to the one in which they live, has been rising for several decades and is likely to continue to increase."
Outward medical tourism potentially creates a problem for health services in the home country, because patients may need post-surgery follow-up at home, and because of the risk of post-surgical complications.
"Treatment of complications due to outward medical tourism can be costly and made more complicated because full information about the initial surgery may be unavailable."
Clare England, Health Technology Wales, said: "We do not know the full impact of medical tourism, but the evidence found that the NHS is treating complications and people may require reversal or revision of the procedures they have had.
"Members of the public who are considering going abroad for treatment need to know that there are risks involved, and our paper emphasises the need for awareness-raising campaigns to highlight the potential pitfalls of medical tourism."
Professor Edwards added: "There is limited information on the frequency and type of complications arising from medical tourism. We know that globally, for cosmetic surgery tourism, wound infection and lack of wound healing are the most common complications reported. Complications can be serious and may require treatment in intensive care, as well as further surgery."
We wanted to review current reports to gain a better understanding of how medical tourism can create costs at home.
Key findings
- The review identified 37 studies published between 2007 and 2025. These studies described 655 patients treated by the NHS between 2006 and 2024 for complications following elective surgery abroad.
- The majority of patients were women (90%), with an average age of 38 years.
- The most common destination country for surgery was Turkey (61%), with 29 destination countries reported overall.
- Most complications followed metabolic/bariatric surgery (385 patients) or cosmetic surgery (265 patients), with a small number related to ophthalmic surgery.
- For cosmetic surgery tourism, infection and wound breakdown were the most frequently reported complications.
- At least 53% of patients experienced severe complications requiring major medical or surgical intervention.
- Some patients required long hospital stays and multiple procedures, including treatment in intensive care.
The review found that the cost to the NHS of treating complications from elective surgery abroad ranged from £1,058 to £19,549 per patient, adjusted to 2024 prices.
Patients with complications from bariatric surgery tourism had an average NHS inpatient stay of 17.3 days, with some staying up to 45 days.
For cosmetic surgery tourism, the average stay was 5.9 days, with a maximum of 49 days reported.
With medical tourism continuing to rise in popularity, driven by lower costs and online marketing, the NHS needs improved surveillance and reporting systems to assess its scale, cost and consequences accurately.
Professor Edwards added: ""There is a major gap in national data on how many UK residents travel abroad for elective surgery and how often the NHS is required to treat resulting complications."
The research, Complications and costs to the UK National Health Service due to outward medical tourism for elective surgery: a rapid review , was published in BMJ Open.
