If you qualify on the NHS and can wait, wait. If you cannot, here is how the UK private route and İzmir really differ.
This page is written by a surgeon in Turkey, so read it critically. Where the NHS is the better answer, it says so.
| NHS | UK private | Op. Dr. Arayıcı, İzmir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to you | Free | £7,000–£14,000, about £10,000 typical | £2,499 plus flights |
| Who qualifies | BMI 40+, or 35+ with a serious related condition, after tier 3 | Clinic's own criteria, usually BMI 30–35+ | BMI 40+, or 35+ with a related condition; not below 30 |
| Waiting | Often more than a year, commonly two or more | Weeks | Usually two to four weeks |
| Nights in hospital | Usually one to three | Usually one to two | Four |
| Pre-operative work-up | Full multidisciplinary pathway | Consultation, bloods, anaesthetic review | Bloods, ultrasound, echocardiogram, three specialist reviews |
| Aftercare | In the NHS, for life | Usually two years, in person | Twelve months with the surgeon, by WhatsApp and video call |
| If something is acute at home | A&E | A&E, or the private hospital | A&E, with our English discharge summary |
| Travel | None | None | A four-hour flight, five days away |
NHS bariatric surgery is free at the point of use and your follow-up stays inside the system that will look after you for the rest of your life. If you qualify and can manage the wait, it is very often the right choice.
A BMI of 40 or above, or 35 and above with a serious weight-related condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea, and evidence that other methods have been tried.
Most areas require a specialist weight-management programme before a surgical referral. Only after that do you join the list for the operation itself.
Three reasons, in our experience: they fell just outside the BMI criteria, their area's wait ran into years, or their health was getting worse while they waited.
The operation is identical: the same staplers, the same laparoscopic technique, hospitals accredited to the same international standards. What differs is the cost of the building, the staff and the insurance around it.
What differs between Turkish clinics is more important than what differs between countries. A package at £2,100 with one night in hospital and three in a hotel is not the same product as £2,499 with four nights on a ward, and the UK press cases almost always involve the first kind.
What you give up by travelling is real and you should weigh it: no in-person follow-up, a flight home on day five, and a GP who may not have been involved. What we put against that is twelve months of direct contact with the surgeon, a full English discharge summary and corrective surgery at no charge if a complication falls to us.
The surgeon's long-form comparison, with the questions UK GPs ask him, is in gastric sleeve Turkey: the complete UK patient guide.
And what the current wait is in your area. If the answer is “yes, and about a year”, think hard before paying for anything.
Ask whether they will do your routine blood tests afterwards. Most will, but ask.
From any clinic, here or in Turkey: named surgeon, nights in hospital, what is excluded.
Your GHIC does not cover Turkey and holiday policies exclude planned surgery. You need cover for elective treatment abroad, including repatriation.
The six points on the is gastric sleeve in Turkey safe page take ten minutes and apply to every clinic, including ours.
It varies widely by area. You usually have to complete a tier 3 weight-management programme before a surgical referral, and then join the waiting list for surgery itself. Many patients are in the pathway for well over a year, and often two or more.
The general criteria are a BMI of 40 or more, or 35 to 40 with a serious weight-related condition such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, after other methods have been tried. Lower thresholds can apply for recent-onset type 2 diabetes and for some ethnic backgrounds. Your GP can tell you where you stand.
Typically between £7,000 and £14,000, with most standard packages around £10,000. That usually includes UK-based follow-up for about two years.
Lower hospital, staff and running costs, not a different operation. The staplers, the technique and the accreditation standards are the same. What does differ between Turkish clinics is how many nights you spend in hospital.
If you qualify and can wait, it is very often the right choice, and the surgeon will tell you so. It is free and your aftercare sits in the system that will look after you for life. Most of our UK patients come because they fell just outside the criteria or could not wait.
For anything acute, yes: you go to A&E and you are treated like any other patient. Routine bariatric follow-up after private surgery abroad is not guaranteed, which is why we provide twelve months of follow-up and a full English discharge summary for your GP.
Yes, before you travel. Ask whether they will do your routine blood tests afterwards and give them the discharge summary when you return.
Send your height, weight, age and where you are in the NHS pathway. The surgeon gives you a straight answer, including “stay on the list” when that is the right one.
Tell him your BMI, your conditions and how long your GP says the wait is. He replies himself.
WhatsApp is the quickest route. You write to the surgeon himself, not a call centre or an agency.
Message on WhatsApp +90 532 466 67 67