Beware cosmetic cowboys
IN a move designed to put pressure on cowboy practitioners and dodgy clinics offering injectable cosmetic treatments, the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services has organised a Government-backed register of supposedly "responsible" providers. Treatments-you-can-Trust, funded by the Government and the cosmetic medicine industry, is a register of doctors, dentists and nurses at 156 clinics across the country.
The provision of cosmetic "anti-ageing" treatments is a booming industry, which all too often injures and disfigures uninformed and ill-advised customers. I am alarmed at this incredibly unassertive approach to tackling a serious issue.
It still doesn't involve any sort of formal legislation, is essentially self-regulated and has absolutely no clout to stop bad practice.
More worryingly, the guidelines used to determine a "safe" clinic are not recognised by the British Standards Institute. A scheme of this sort must involve legal regulation, with the Care Quality Commission, the NHS watchdog in England, ensuring public safety.
Inexplicably, the last government rejected a recommendation by the Chief Medical Officer for full regulation of the industry, and the present Government has continued the same policy. Most of the public will never hear of this scheme and won't ask if their clinic is registered, so rogue practitioners will continue to operate.
The conditions required for inclusion on the list are risible. Organisations applying must show that only doctors, dentists and registered nurses are delivering the treatments. No distinction will be made between doctors who had six years' training in cosmetic surgery and those who have done a weekend course. Organisations will be able to register a chain of clinics for a single fee, while the individual practitioners will go unchecked.
It entirely misses the point: it's the guy sticking the needle in your face you need to worry about, not the building he does it in. The British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) revealed that one in four of its cosmetic surgeon members had seen patients who needed surgery for complications caused by the injection of permanent fillers, mainly due to "unqualified practitioners administering them incorrectly".
If you are considering any sort of cosmetic procedure, check your practitioners, qualifications first. They should be on the Specialist Register of the GMC, and preferably registered with BAAPS if they are a surgeon. Ask to see photos of their work, and talk to past patients. The more homework you can do the better, as it seems that the Government is still not prepared to offer you any help. If in any doubt, reconsider. You only get one face.
Follow me on Twitter @DoctorChristian
