Breast implants scandal: Clinics ‘lack skills to treat patients’

SOME private clinics at the centre of the breast implant scandal are claiming they do not have “the skills” to treat affected patients, experts have warned.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) said private firms were referring patients to the NHS if their implants have ruptured, claiming they cannot help them themselves.

Around 40,000 women in the UK received implants manufactured by the now closed French company Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP), with the vast majority of operations carried out in private clinics.

The Government has called on private clinics to replace PIP implants for free.

Former BAAPS president Nigel Mercer said: “I’ve recently seen a number of patients with lumps in their armpits - in one woman’s case, the surgeon directly admitted to her not having the skills to remove them.

“In another instance, the clinic itself told the patient their surgeons weren’t competent enough to perform the procedure.

“Either these clinics’ practitioners aren’t qualified plastic surgeons as is generally claimed on their websites, which is clearly alarming, or they don’t want to bear the costs of caring for their own patients.

“Frankly, neither option should be acceptable to the women affected.”