10-year journey of Zafra Medical
On the 13 of October 2016, I held my first clinic day in Litfield House Medical Centre. It’s been over a decade in June 2016 when I registered Zafra Medical ltd and the dream began to have a clinic with my name and grow together.
It hasn’t been easy at all, in 2014 I appeared nearly out of nowhere in the UK, that nowhere actually being Barcelona, Spain. In my first job in the UK, I worked for a private company on behalf of the UK government as a GP. It took me 2 years to save enough money to buy my own medical equipment and prepare to leave a financially secure position to venture on my own. I had no safety net except for my studies and the experience I had at the time.
2016, October… the first three months were the scariest, I put all I had left into the first version of the website and marketing, always rejecting to brand’s before and afters or what companies call marketing support material. So, I had no before and afters and no one knew me, I had no paying patient’s those months, barely a few first consultations. It was until December; I was sat in the office worried and crying because I had done all I could and would have to close and admit failure if I didn’t have patients soon. A few days later I had my first paying patient, and she had the “ZAFRA FACELIFT” which gave me hope and mental strength to continue.
During 2017, my first marriage fell apart, we attributed it to being young career driven professionals, she was a marketing guru and the first to create a medical marketing company, Digital Hermes. We learned a lot together and grew professionally but also grew apart as a couple, so we decided for an amicable divorce and kept being friends until a few years later she tragically lost the battle against breast. Thanks to my patients who contributed to the fundraiser to help her, RIP Anna Kaczmarksa.
Life carried on, and in 2019 I moved to Cardiff, Wales for a change of scenery and travelling to the clinic in Bristol on daily basis, which was difficult some days due to the traffic in the mornings. We managed to survive an unprecedented event of a global pandemic which represented unique challenges never encountered. Thanks to all my patience for being so understanding and patient during those times.
I eventually met my daughter’s mum, and I thought it was a fairy tale come true and got married; however, the fairy tale lasted until November 2022 when my world was flipped 180 degrees. I found myself fighting in court to protect my daughter and for my life as I knew it. The best advice I was given, was by the multitalented, doctor/artist and dear friend Dr Monica Cuellar, when I told her what I was going through, she told me “focus on your job, you love what you do and that will keep you focussed and give you the means to fight for your daughter”. In July 2023, I was able to prove in UK family court my innocence and was granted full custody of my daughter. However, the horror story had not ended and had just come to a climax as my daughter Sabine was abducted to Russia in December 2023.
During 2024, I continued the legal battle, now internationally in courts in Russia to try to recover my baby girl. Unfortunately, despite it was accepted as an international child abduction case, late in 2024, Russia declined to return her to the UK as she was now a Russian citizen.
It was until the beginning of 2025 when I accepted I would not see my daughter again until she was old enough to make contact, and came to the conclusion that when I see her again, she will find a happy daddy, so I have to continue improving and taking care of myself, so I can help her in the future. All our story can be read on SABINEZAFRA.COM which is the only way I have to ever to regain contact with her, as to this day I have no news from my gorgeous daughter Sabine, who I love with all my heart and soul sense the moment I knew she would be coming to this world.
If you have got here, you can understand it hasn’t been easy but I love my job and it kept me sane during the darkest time of my life. When I’m with my patients, I focus on their health and we talk about how I can help them achieve their goals. The appointment reviews as you’ve probably heard me say “are just to check you are happy with the results”. Seeing my patients happy also makes me happy and that has helped me a lot and makes me proud of my decision to be a doctor and never giving up.
I am not perfect, nor do I know everything or am I able to do magic but you can rest assured I will do my best for my patients and this is the reason I select the treatments and products and techniques I offer. Thanks again to all my patients, for their patience when I was not able to arrive in the morning on time to their appointments, as you can read now it’s not been easy with distance and life events, but once I’m there they all now I will see them without rushing and listen to them and take my time to help each one as best as I humanely can.
Another challenge over recent years have been negative Google reviews, as it is clear some are purely malicious, placed by unscrupulous competition. Others seem to be entitled individuals who seek attention and have tried to bully themselves out of free treatments. It is difficult to know there are people out here just trying to harm your business, which is your only source of support. Despite the online abuse, I have carried on and focus on my patients, who I see at the clinic and hope they share their experience with the friends and family. Please if you have not left a review, I kindly ask you to share your experience, by leaving a GOOGLE REVIEW as this will help others decide on where to go for their treatments.
The updates and upgrades of the clinic and website, have been consistent over the years, I have invested heavily to improve the facilities and in training to have the latest skills and know how to expertly deliver the best proven products available in the aesthetic medicine sector. I’ve enjoyed travelling around the UK and Europe to acquire new skills and knowledge.
2026, marks with 10th year anniversary of my dream job and despite my life struggles, I managed to get here with your support. Also, this year the website was fully updated and I an extremely happy to have my wonderful partner Simona Puidokaite as the face of the brand, we’ve enjoyed doing the photoshoots for the clinic, as one of my hobbies is photography and with her love and support, I have slowly begun to reactivate my social media presence.
I will continue to offer the free consultations despite people booking and not turning up, because I feel that the ones that do turn up value my expertise and it will enable me to help many more individuals that have struggled with a skin insecurity for years and want to find someone, they can trust to do their treatment.
New amazing products like biostimulators and collagen boosters have been added to my extensive toolbox. I continue to decline the use of fad products and will only offer proven safe and properly science backed up products and devices, hence you will not see me advertising like other clinics do. You are now able to read more about it on the new section on the website called: SKIN REJUVENATION.
The use of lasers, especially CO2 laser is the core star of my bespoke treatment plans as it is still the gold standard for skin rejuvenation and proven safety and efficacy for over 4 decades of its application in aesthetic medicine. Being this treatment so important in my daily practice it now has its own section on the website: CO2 LASER.
One of the most popular treatments, is laser mole removal which also now has a dedicated section MOLE REMOVAL. For people that don’t have moles that bother them it might sound vane, however moles as benign as they are can have a huge impact on an individual’s mental health and confidence that can significantly impact on their daily life. After a decade of offering this treatment, it is still immensely gratifying to be able to help my patients regain their confidence by removing something that has been affecting them for years. Over the years, I’ve had tears of happiness when I showed them their results and I enjoy doing this treatment on daily basis.
Plans for the future, if God allows me to continue with my vision, I would love to expand the brand and be able to offer the same quality of service in other locations in the UK. For that to materialize I need the right team, committed aesthetic doctors with the same ethos, that will take care of their patients as I do. So, in the meantime while I find the ideal candidates, you are all stuck with me as long as I have life and health.
Once again, I would have not been able to get to a ten-year anniversary without the support of all my patients and friends who have become my family in the UK, especially Jo Honar-Amooz, Patricia and Chris Tanner, Monica Maya, my bro Kev and HRH Lord Thomas the first. I’m extremely grateful to everyone, who trusted me with not only their health but with their life stories and they have gotten to know my story so far.
To celebrate the tenth-year anniversary, I will be hosting an event in the clinic. It will be the closing of the private exhibition of the artwork you have been enjoying in the clinic, all by the amazingly talented Judith Brenner. This will be on the 11th of October 2026 at 11am in the main room of Litfield House Medical Centre. If you can accompany me I will be delighted to welcome you all, please just let us know by email you are able to attend or you can also click on the image below and secure your free ticket so we can plan to have enough wine and food for everyone to enjoy the finissage.
Thank you all for reading and inadvertently accompanying me on this 10-year journey of Zafra Medical.
Dr Zafra MD, MSc.
(George)