Taking the first Steps to Researching your Options
Making the decision to have breast augmentation can often be made more daunting when it comes to the task of researching various clinics and hospitals. But electing to have your surgery undertaken in a London clinic narrows down the task somewhat and, thanks to the internet, much of the hard work is already done for you! Obviously there are some finer details to take into account when making your comparisons, such as whether you are going up or down a size, as well as other factors like reviews, comments and (perhaps) any blogs or magazine articles you may come across in your initial research. All of this may affect your choice of clinic, ergo, it’s worth spending some time on this at the outset.
Where to look
The internet is perhaps the best (and only) tool you will need – not just for researching clinics, but also for gaining insight into the experiences and pitfalls that other people (like yourself) have encountered. When good care and service has been given, people want to shout about it! And remember, it’s not just the bad stuff that people want to write about; the majority of people receive the best care possible (within their budget) and it’s worth reading as many reviews as you can. Of course professional and impartial reviews are equally as important as consumer reviews, and a more rounded impression is likely if you take every angle into account. Another avenue of research open to you is social networking; this plays a huge part in consumer experiences nowadays, and can often be a healthy indicator of how well an organisation is doing. You can check how well liked they are, and peruse clients’ comments and feedback to give you a well balanced view that may help with narrowing down your options. You may even be able to interact with some clinics in this way.
Vital points of note
Of course, there is no substitute for familiarising yourself with whatever accreditation the industry recognises; BAAPS, or the British Association of Aesthetics Plastic Surgeons is based within the Royal College of Surgeons, and any clinic you choose with such accreditation will be made up of surgeons who are also members of (and governed by) the GMC, or the General Medical Council. Ensuring that these things are in place will give some much needed reassurance and the peace of mind you need to focus on recovering and getting back to your normal routine. That said, the cost of the procedure will be an equally important aspect of your decision; finance can often be put in place by the clinic (depending on each clinic’s policy) or you may wish to take care of the cost in one lump-sum payment. The finance part of the decision may be a bit ‘chicken and egg’ for some people, i.e. choose a clinic and then talk about finance, or deal with the finance and then consider clinics – either way, financing the procedure is a very important and pivotal aspect of the overall decision to go ahead with the desired surgery.
Narrowing down your Options
Now that all of the all of the necessary research is done, you will most likely have a long list of clinics you feel will meet your requirements. The next step is therefore a very important one as you must now decide which ones are your top 4-5 choices before making your final selection. You will have discovered (early on in your research) that the majority of these clinics are based in or around the Harley Street area – this may or may not influence your decision, as you may be more concerned with cost, and other factors, than location; but whatever factors influence you most, that final choice needs to be undertaken with great care. At this stage of having 4 or 5 ‘favourites’ it’s advisable to contact each of these clinics with a view to arranging an initial consultation. Making a final choice will be dependent on how you feel once you’ve visited the clinic, and how well they put you at ease. Spending some time in the surroundings of the clinic, and speaking to a consultant, will help you to iron out any of those last little niggles you might still have, and things will seem clearer afterwards.
Whatever you decide, the time you have spent in researching the right clinic for you will be time very well spent, and will allow you to get through the procedure with as much comfort and reassurance as possible.