Beauticians and clinics offering unregulated cosmetic procedures face tighter controls under government proposals that could lead to licences being required for non-surgical treatments such as Botox and fillers.
[Sourced from The Times. Read original article here]
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, has acted after a Times investigation last month disclosed that some beauticians were injecting young women with “black market” Botox versions, putting them at risk of being disfigured for life.
Undercover reporters exposed practitioners offering facial injections with cheap versions of Botox that were not licensed in the UK. One man who represented himself as a doctor but is not registered with the General Medical Council advised a female reporter to have 22 injections of an unlicensed product.
After the investigation was published Javid said that the practices uncovered were “totally unacceptable”. An inquiry has been opened by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. An amendment to the Health and Care Bill going through parliament, tabled today, would enable Javid to introduce a licensing regime for Botox and fillers.
Details of the regulations will be determined through public consultation. The government made it illegal last year to administer non-surgical cosmetic treatments and advertise them to people younger than 18.
Javid said: “The Times has done some excellent work shining a light on this important issue. Far too many people have been left emotionally and physically scarred after botched cosmetic procedures.”
The licensing scheme will introduce consistent standards for non-surgical cosmetic procedures and set out hygiene and safety standards for the premises where they are performed.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it would focus on procedures that could cause harm.
Surgeons urged the government to go further in its oversight of the cosmetic treatments sector.
Professor Vivien Lees, a consultant plastic surgeon and council member at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “This is a step in the right direction in ensuring individuals who carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as Botox and fillers, will have to meet consistent safety standards. It is also good that there will be hygiene and safety standards for the premises where these procedures take place.
“However, nine years after the Keogh Review, it is disappointing that recommendations to improve the safety of cosmetic surgery have not been fully implemented. Any doctor on the medical register can still undertake cosmetic procedures, whatever their training. We encourage all surgeons practising cosmetic surgery to apply for the Intercollegiate Cosmetic Surgery Certification Scheme (ICSOC).
“However, the scheme is self-funded and voluntary. We have repeatedly asked the government to give the General Medical Council the power to require those undertaking cosmetic surgery to be certified and to include this on the medical register. This would help make the cosmetic surgery industry a safer place for patients.”
Maria Caulfield, the minister for patient safety, said: “Today’s amendment is the next step on the road to effective regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England.”
