War on cosmetic surgery cowboys!!!

Cowboy cosmetic surgery clinics are to be banned from treating patients unless their staff have proper qualifications.

The Department of Health will today announce a review of the industry to
protect women from botched breast enlargements and Botox injections
administered by staff who have had just a few hours of training

The NHS Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, aims to tighten the rules on advertising and toughen up regulations.
over the safety of PIP breast implants. Senior sources say the Government is set to ban aggressive advertising of ‘two for one’ deals on cosmetic surgery – for instance a
breast enlargement with a free tummy tuck – and clinics that encourage
women to go under the knife purely for vanity reasons.
The review is expected to recommend the creation of a compulsory register of implants so women’s health can be more readily monitored. Cosmetic surgeons will be forced to give patients more information about their treatments, for example warning women that breast implants are likely to need replacing every ten years.

Women who have booked surgery are likely to be offered a cooling off period to allow them to rethink whether they need the treatments. And those carrying out the procedures will have to provide far better aftercare.The crackdown aims to drive cowboy surgeons out of the industry and make it more difficult for inexperienced beauty parlour workers to give Botox jabs, dermal fillers or conduct laser hair removal

Botox can currently be injected by anyone who has done a half-day-long course in which they watch a demonstration and take a friend along to practise on – although the drug does need to be prescribed by a doctor.

‘There is a case for tightening up so that practitioners have to acquire more rigorous qualifications,’ a source said.

Some 45 per cent of women and one in four men say they have considered cosmetic surgery. But a poll conducted for the Government has found that many consider the cost of surgery more important than the qualifications of the people doing it.

Some 67 per cent of those questioned consider cost as a factor when deciding whether or not to have cosmetic surgery. Only 54 per cent take the qualifications of their practitioner into consideration.

Sir Bruce will today announce the creation of an expert panel to consider how regulations can be tightened and patient care improved. The panel includes TV doctor Rosemary
Leonard, Catherine Kydd, a campaigner on PIP implants, plastic Simon Withey and Trish Halpin, editor of Marie Claire magazine.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley ordered the review following fears over unsafe breast implants

Sir Bruce said: ‘The recent problems with PIP breast implants have shone a light on the cosmetic surgery industry. Many questions have been raised, particularly around the
regulation of clinics, whether all practitioners are adequately qualified, how well people are advised when money is changing hands, aggressive marketing techniques and what protection is available when things go wrong.

‘I am concerned that too many people do not realise how serious cosmetic surgery is and do not consider the life-long implications – and potential complications – it can have.

'We want to hear views from everyone, particularly people who have experience of the cosmetic surgery industry or of other cosmetic interventions – good and bad – so we can learn what works best.’ Concern grew late last year over PIP implants, which were made by French company Poly Implant Prothese.

They were linked to the death of a French woman from a rare form of cancer, sparking worries among 47,000 British women who were thought to have had them.

Last night Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons,, welcomed the review into the industry as an opportunity to ‘end unethical practices.'

‘We would like the review to take this opportunity to draw a clear line between cosmetic treatments that are seen as a commodity and cosmetic surgery that is a serious medical treatment which must be provided by fully-trained and qualified surgeons.’

Professor Norman Williams, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, added: ‘In an increasingly quick-fix and image-conscious society, it is quite easy to forget that cosmetic surgery has life-long implications. Patients must be assured that the practitioners have the right qualifications and experience.’




source HERE


Well it's about time!!!!!!

At last! Some signs of the regulators waking up!!

Very interesting, thanks for posting this.
I really hope regulations do get toughened up as it really is a big op & big thing for your body & mind to go through - something I've realised in the last few months! It -has- to be done properly! x