The NHS is spending tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on cosmetic surgery, new statistics reveal.
The number of facelifts and operations to increase breast size has more than doubled over the past decade, while there has been a 40 per cent rise in liposuction, the Daily Mail reported.
In 2012-13, the NHS found the money to carry out 1,137 facelifts – costing taxpayers up to £8.5 million. Up to £52.5 million went on breast enlargements and a record £10 million was spent on liposuction.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said recently that the NHS should only fund cosmetic surgery when there is a ‘clear clinical need’ and if someone’s physical and mental health could be at risk without it. It is unclear, from the figures supplied by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, what proportion of the procedures met these criteria. The data do not distinguish between procedures carried out for cosmetic and non-cosmetic reasons.
Earlier this year a survey found that a quarter of patients who have had cosmetic surgery procedures had lied to secure funding.
Many claimed to have low self-esteem or depression as a result of the way they looked, according to research by a firm of medical negligence solicitors.