Surgeon credentials are the most important factor in hair transplant quality — and yet they are the element patients most frequently fail to scrutinise effectively. Here are the specific questions to ask and why each answer matters.
Are you registered with the GMC? The General Medical Council registration of the operating surgeon is verifiable online in thirty seconds. Any clinic that cannot provide a named GMC-registered surgeon for your procedure should be disqualified immediately. Ask for the surgeon’s GMC number specifically, not just their name.
What is your specific surgical background? Hair transplant surgery can be performed by surgeons from various backgrounds. Plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and specialist hair transplant surgeons all operate in this field. The relevant question is not the specialty of origin but the specific training in hair transplant surgery and the volume of procedures performed. Ask how many hair transplant procedures they have personally performed.
Will you personally perform my extraction and implantation? This is the most important question in the consultation. In high-volume clinics, the named surgeon may only draw the hairline and be present for a small portion of the procedure. Confirm in writing that the surgeon you meet at consultation will personally extract and implant your grafts throughout the full procedure day.
Can I see your results from patients with similar characteristics to mine? Ask specifically for results from patients with similar hair calibre, density, and loss pattern. Generic before-and-after galleries are less useful than specific comparison cases.
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