The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) warmly welcomes the government’s decision to introduce tough new measures to regulate and licence cosmetic procedures according to the risks they present. The government’s new proposals will crack down on unlicensed and unregulated cosmetic practitioners who are unable to provide evidence of their knowledge, competence and ability to practise safely.

 

Prof. David Sines CBE, the Chair of JCCP, said:

“This government commitment is a major step towards improved patient safety in England. It will protect the public from untrained and inexperienced operators and it will save the NHS a considerable amount of time and money putting right the harm done through botched procedures.”

 

The need for these new measures has become increasingly clear in recent years with the explosion of high street outlets offering high-risk procedures delivered by people with limited clinical knowledge and training. This has led to long-term health complications and in some cases it has even led to the death of the patient.

 

The government’s new measures will ensure:

· Only registered clinicians will be able to perform the riskiest procedures such as Brazilian Butt Lifts.

· These high risk procedures must be undertaken by organisations that are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

· Procedures involving Botox © or fillers will now become properly licenced through a new local authority licensing scheme.

· It will be illegal to administer regulated and licensed procedures to young people under the age of 18 unless it has been authorised by a clinician.

· Practitioners will need to meet strict standards on education, training, infection control, patient safety, and insurance before they can operate legally.

 

This government initiative follows a series of incidents where people have had high-risk treatments from people with little or no medical training, leading to life threatening complications.

 

Prof. David Sines said:

“The UK Government’s ‘Plan for Change’ signals a strong commitment to patient safety, and this new commitment sits well with the JCCP’s widely publicised call for statutory regulation. The introduction of standards to ensure that patients are safeguarded and protected from harm has become imperative.

 

“Ensuring that all cosmetic practitioners are regulated and licensed to a new national education and training standard, that they are appropriately insured and that they work from safe premises will be warmly welcomed. This new

commitment has our full support and we welcome the opportunity to engage in further consultation.

 

“The non-surgical cosmetics field is changing rapidly with new procedures becoming available all the time. These new government measures will only come into force after a further consultation, early next year, on which procedures should be covered. There has already been a major consultation on this issue in 2023 and there should be no further delay to the task of improving patient safety and saving money for the NHS. We would therefore urge the government to move rapidly on this issue and introduce the necessary arrangements as quickly as possible.

 

“In the meantime, we would urge anybody who is considering a cosmetic procedure to visit the JCCP website (www.jccp.org.uk) to check whether their procedure is being carried out by a registered clinician.”

 

The JCCP has been established as a vehicle to promote patient safety in the world of non-surgical aesthetics. It achieves this by providing information and advice to the public and through its ‘Practitioner Register’. JCCP Registered Practitioners meet stringent entry requirements, sign up to a strict Code of Practice and operate within a set of standards and competencies.

 

You can listen to our recent podcast on this titled "Towards Safer Practice: David Sines on the DHSC’s First Steps in Cosmetic Regulation" here: