The cosmetic and aesthetic treatment industry is expanding rapidly, yet our laws have utterly failed to keep pace.
In 2023 alone, around 7.7 million people in the UK underwent treatments and procedures ranging from Botox injections to facelifts. Every single cosmetic and aesthetic treatment or procedure is currently under-regulated, both surgical and non-surgical alike.
Each year, more people undergo these treatments, and each year, more are left vulnerable to devastating complications because of a systematic failure in our legal system.
The statistics paint an indisputable picture: without raising the baseline minimum level of clinical standards, millions across the country will continue to suffer and some will pay with their lives.
Right now, in the UK, anyone can perform non-surgical cosmetic and aesthetic treatments. And anyone on the GMC register can carry out surgical cosmetic and aesthetic procedures.
We live in a regulated society, leading to the misconception of many that this industry is already regulated. After all, the rest of the medical sector is. So why wouldn’t this be?
Many genuinely believe the “practitioners” they visit have a medical background.
They see the official-looking certificates on the wall, and they presume the training being claimed to have completed is of the same rigorous standard that our nurses and doctors go through.
The reality however is, I could sign up to an online course, complete roughly ten hours of coursework, attend two days of in-person training and then call myself “qualified” to perform fat dissolution or Botox. Or I could sign up to another course, watch a series of “specialist videos” and then be “qualified” to inject lip fillers and dermal fillers. How does watching a few videos or attending a two-day course qualify anyone to perform treatments that carry risks as serious as blindness, tissue necrosis, paralysis and even death?
If I was having a simple blood test, I would expect a nurse trained in phlebotomy to handle the needle.
If I needed my appendix removed, I would expect a general surgeon to perform the operation.
If I was having needles put into my face, or my nose operated on, I would expect the person holding that needle or scalpel to have the medical qualifications required by the NHS. Meaning specialist training, and CQC registration.
My Westminster Hall debate was about non-surgical treatments. But let us be clear: surgical procedures are also in desperate need of regulation.
After meeting with the Royal College of Surgeons, it is evident that we must tighten the rules on who is allowed to perform cosmetic and aesthetic operations. And we must amend the Health and Social Care Act, expanding the powers of the Secretary of State to introduce regulations on operations and making “surgeon” a protected title.
I would welcome the chance to meet with the Minister of State for Health to discuss this further because we cannot allow non-surgical treatments to be regulated while surgical procedures are left behind.
This must be one overarching framework which encompasses all cosmetic and aesthetic treatments and procedures. And at the very heart of that new framework must be a minimum baseline standard of practitioner training. The absence of such a standard has allowed low-quality, unsafe so-called “clinics” to spring up across the country.
The United Kingdom is home to one of the best healthcare systems in the world. And yet in this area, we are falling dangerously short.
The Government’s announcement in July, pledging to regulate, was a welcome step forward, but real concerns remain about the timeframe.
This cannot be a two- or three-year project. The industry is growing too fast, patients are suffering too frequently, and the NHS is already paying too high a price.
We need urgency, clarity and we need a firm timeline from the Government.
Right now, because of failures in the law, this industry is instead risking lives, preying on the vulnerable, burdening the NHS, and leaving countless people traumatised for life.
That is the choice before us: will we allow this crisis to continue unchecked or will we act with the urgency and courage needed to protect the public?
Because the truth is this: every day of delay is another life put at risk, and we cannot allow that to continue.
We are witnessing an emerging public health crisis.
