Hundreds of patients get liposuction on NHS

The health service has spent £5.7million in the past year on giving 471 patients the procedure and more than 1,600 patients nose jobs, tummy tucks and breast reductions, NHS Information Centre figures show.

Doctors said many operations were because of medical problems - but that some patients were thought to be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, a psychiatric condition when people are overly worried about small flaws.

Jagdeep Nanchahal, professor of plastic surgery at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said the health service would not give a patient surgery for purely cosmetic reasons.

"The figures could sound alarming, but there are very strict guidelines.

"A few years ago it may have been possible for a patient to ask for a nose job because they were distressed by their looks, but the rules have tightened."

The 471 people having the body fat removal procedure each cost the NHS about £1,500 based on an estimate of the operations undertaken privately.

The procedure lasts about 75 minutes, during which a hollow tube is inserted and a suction device removes the fat.

Rhinoplasty - a nose job - costs the NHS £3,000 for each procedure. Tummy tucks and breast reduction operations are £3,800 each.

Barbara Jemec, consultant plastic surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, said liposuction figures were increasing because HIV patients' medication can cause fat to build up on their necks: "One of my colleagues does liposuction exclusively for HIV patients and the machine is so expensive he bought his own."

Critics fear private clinics will benefit as NHS hospitals without equipment have to pay for patients to go elsewhere.

Geoff Martin of London Health Emergency said: "Not many NHS hospitals can afford to buy a liposuction machine so our concern is that private companies are making money out of this."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "The NHS does not carry out surgery for cosmetic reasons but does carry out surgery to secure physical or mental health."

Several celebrities have admitted having liposuction, including Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh, 33, and former singer and reality TV show star Kerry Katona, 28.

Documentary-maker Louis Theroux had it on screen for a BBC2 show in 2007.

Its risks were highlighted when in 2002 Denise Hendry, 43, wife of former Scotland footballer Colin, was left in a coma for six weeks.