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Choosing the right surgeon, part two - Joy Parker-Fleming, Patient Advisory Service

Corrective surgery

In the last 5 years, we have seen a flood of patients asking for advice on corrective surgery, due to them having been “sold” surgery by agents offering special seasonal discounts or offers, free travel to their clinics, lifetime aftercare etc. In fact during my 12 years in Harley Street, London many such clinics have disappeared or changed their names so the Surgeon who did your operation is no longer in the UK and the contract you signed is no longer valid. This of course means that your only recourse is to have to pay again for the procedure to be re-done at greater expense than the first time. Corrective surgery will always cost you more, that is if you find a surgeon willing to take you on.

And if you rush into it again – and you still have not found the right surgeon, you will be every more disappointed and demoralized than before.

With the phenomenon of the web, we are uncovering a sneaky way of subliminal advertising. This is similar to the way a certain political party were caught out last year about to publish untrue comments regarding opposing party members that would cast aspersions on their character, without any proof or fear of being sued.

The practice is alive and well in the cosmetic surgery marketplace. Chat rooms for cosmetic surgery have been set up with so called patients posting their experiences and recommendations for all to see, naming their favourite surgeon and slandering another. Some of these websites are now under investigation, as the web is now being policed and where people thought they were safe to say whatever they liked anonymously they are in danger of finally being traced and will definitely be prosecuted. One such site has already been shut down and was reported widely in the national press.

Chat room caution

A number of these chat rooms are actually funded by the “wonderful surgeons” as their so called patients expound. Phantom patients bad mouth their colleague competitors with stories of having their lives ruined with bad surgery. This is very clever, as people always seem to believe what they read be it on the web or in the press.

Just be aware that if you are looking in the chat rooms for reassurance from previous patients who have undergone the same procedure that you are contemplating, be a little wary if the same “Mr. Wonderful” keeps being mentioned, and also a “Mr. Awful” keeps popping up.

Be very skeptical of any such site as there are hundreds of surgeons doing very good work and some of the best are being maligned unjustly through cut throat competition. You can do as much research as you like but nothing beats good experienced advice, talking to previous patients and getting a “gut feeling” when you meet a surgeon.

The criteria to follow is that the surgeon you choose in on the GMC Specialist Register of Plastic Surgery with the accreditation FRCS (Plas). Many surgeons advertise a list of memberships that they belong too and this can be very impressive, but these are not accreditations and bear no relevance to their expertise.

Good luck in your quest to have the best information available to you to make a great choice on your surgeon – and excellent surgery with the best outcome. This will create an enduring rapport between you and your surgeon.

I am happy to answer any queries you may have and there is no charge to speak with myself or any member of my team personally. You can see the senior team members on the website below.

Joy Parker-Fleming

Joy is a senior patient advisor with 20 years experience in the cosmetic surgery industry. www.patientadvisory.co.uk

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