NHS waiting times driving patients to seek weight-loss help in Turkey, says surgeon

Concerns grow after 67 cases of botulism poisoning in past three weeks linked to clinics in Istanbul and İzmir

Desperate patients are seeking risky weight-loss treatments in Turkey because of unacceptable NHS waiting times, a surgeon has said.

Ahmed Ahmed, a consultant bariatric surgeon at Imperial College healthcare trust and the treasurer of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, said there had been a notable increase in patients presenting with complications after undergoing surgery abroad.