Vietnam plastic surgery hospital checks: what to look for before you book

The Beauty Link team wrote this checklist in October 2026 and lists sources after each section. It has had no review by a doctor and is not medical advice; health questions belong with your surgeon.

How Beauty Link chooses hospitals

We do no surgery ourselves. We are a concierge that screens and suggests hospitals, without charging patients, because the hospital pays us. We help patients from abroad with facial surgery such as a facelift, nose surgery, breast surgery such as breast implants, and body contouring.

Here is what that means in practice:

• Hospitals only. Beauty Link works with hospitals, not clinics.
• A licence first. Every partner hospital is licensed and registered with the Ministry of Health.
• A plan in writing. We expect each hospital to send you a written plan and an itemised quote.
• Photos of similar cases. The hospital is asked to share before and after photos of cases like yours.
• An advisor in the group. Your Beauty Link advisor stays in the chat with you and the hospital team, and helps with language.

Andrew Lam, our Co-founder, runs Beauty Link. A license on the wall does not promise how your result will turn out. That is why the rest of this page is about the checks you can run too.

Sources: Beauty Link team records

Check the hospital's licence and setting

Start by asking who accredits the hospital. Smartraveller, run by the Australian Government, says local authority accreditation should be confirmed and unofficial medical facilities avoided, and that two hospitals in one country can differ a lot.

Ask the hospital where your operation will take place. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) says an accredited facility must meet strict standards for equipment, operating room safety, staff and surgeon credentials. If you will recover overnight somewhere other than the hospital, ask about that place's licence too. ASPS says you can check a facility's accreditation by contacting the body that gave it.

Good questions about the setting:

• Is the hospital licensed for the procedure I want?
• Who gives the anaesthetic, and what are their qualifications?
• Is there monitoring and care through the night, and a plan for an emergency?

Sources: Smartraveller, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, healthdirect Australia

Check the surgeon, not only the hospital

A well run hospital still needs the right surgeon for your case. Finding solid facts about a foreign doctor's training and experience can be hard, healthdirect Australia warns. So ask the hospital and the surgeon directly.

The NHS suggests asking the surgeon:

• what training and qualifications they have
• which professional groups they belong to
• how long they have been working as a surgeon
• the number of operations like yours on their record
• whether you and they share a language

Most countries keep an official online list of qualified doctors, Smartraveller notes. Look your surgeon up there. Then ask both surgeon and hospital to show their indemnity and malpractice policies. ASPS also suggests asking whether the surgeon has hospital privileges to do your procedure, and at which hospitals.

Sources: healthdirect Australia, NHS, Smartraveller, American Society of Plastic Surgeons

Your question list for the hospital

None of this needs to feel awkward. It is fair to ask these questions. You can copy this list and send it in your WhatsApp group before you book.

1. What are the surgeon's qualifications, and how often do they do this operation?
2. What are the risks of this procedure, and how are complications handled?
3. What kind of anaesthetic will I have, and who will give it?
4. What care will I need after surgery, and who will give it?
5. How long should I stay in Vietnam before I fly home?
6. Once I am home, which doctor follows me up, and how do I reach the hospital if something is wrong?
7. What is the total, line by line?

Keep the replies in writing. healthdirect Australia says a quote should always be requested. Smartraveller adds that a complication can cost more to fix, so plan for that too.

Sources: healthdirect Australia, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, NHS, Smartraveller

How the WhatsApp group works

You run your hospital checks over WhatsApp, in one chat shared by you, the hospital's staff and our advisor. The hospital explains who it is and which options might fit, then sends its plan and quote. You can run every check on this page there, with your advisor helping in English.

The NHS wants two consultations with your treating surgeon before the operation, and a meeting with the surgeon, not just a sales team. Ask in the group how your consultations will be arranged, and take time to read your plan before you decide.

A driver collects you at the airport, and your advisor checks how you are healing in Vietnam and after you are home.

Sources: Beauty Link team records, NHS

Recovery, aftercare and flying home

Ask the hospital how its flight advice compares with the NHS guide to cosmetic surgery abroad. That guide links the wait to clots, since an operation and a flight can each raise the chance of a life threatening clot. The waits it describes before flying are:

• after breast surgery or liposuction, 5 to 7 days
• after a tummy tuck or any facial cosmetic surgery, 7 to 10 days

The same guide lists alcohol, sunbathing, sightseeing and swimming among the things it describes avoiding during recovery. These are general figures from one guide. Your surgeon will tell you which of them apply to your case and when you are fit to fly, so ask the hospital to put its flight advice in writing.

Ask who will handle your follow up after you return home. If something goes wrong later, the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons says an Australian service will likely treat it. Smartraveller suggests travel insurance that covers complications and medical evacuation, and taking someone with you for support. For implants, check that the hospital will complete the Australian Breast Device Registry form. According to the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, you take the form with you, the hospital completes it, and you send it in after you return.

Sources: NHS, Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Smartraveller

Warning signs to take seriously

• Every contact is with a salesperson. In cosmetic tourism, the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons says, the person doing the consult often lacks medical training and wants payment early.
• The risks sound much lower than you were told at home. Smartraveller says to be wary of that.
• Money is wanted for a surgeon you have never met or a hospital you know nothing about. The NHS says do not pay.
• The package bundles surgery with a holiday. Holidaying right after an operation makes problems more likely, the NHS warns.

You can learn more on our page is plastic surgery in Vietnam safe, and in our guide to reading reviews of plastic surgery in Vietnam.

Sources: Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Smartraveller, NHS

Questions

Sources: Smartraveller, healthdirect Australia