Britain's largest provider of cosmetic surgery was yesterday attacked by leading plastic surgeons for offering patients holiday vouchers worth up to £200 and a "loyalty card" for repeat operations.
The Transform medical group is offering Thomas Cook vouchers to customers who book any surgical procedure in May or June. It is also launching a Transformations privilege card, which works like a supermarket loyalty card, with patients gaining 10% off the cost of subsequent non-surgical procedures such as Botox, and 5% off future operations.
The offers were condemned yesterday by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons as "absurd marketing gimmicks" which enticed patients in a way that underestimated the risk involved. Adam Searle, its president, said: "I find it appalling that any reputable medical practitioner could sanction these kinds of promotions, which offer incentives to book more and more surgical procedures each time."
Transform carries out 25,000 procedures a year in 17 clinics nationwide. Its marketing director, Liz Dale, denied that the company was doing anything other than helping to make holidays more affordable. "Often when people have had a makeover and feel great, the next thing they want is to go on holiday," she said. "It's a big decision to have cosmetic surgery. [But if] people are going to do it anyway, we're looking at something to persuade them to come to Transform."
Thomas Cook admitted it had sold the vouchers to the group, but denied it had "teamed up" with Transform. By the end of the day, the Thomas Cook logo had been removed from Transform's website.