The Joint Council for Cosmetic Procedures (JCCP) has set out a 10-point-plan for the safety of cosmetics patients in its most recent report

The British Beauty Council is continuing to support the JCCP in its work for the design and promotion of a safe and equitable licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The renewal of the this memorandum of understanding is set out in the body’s most recent statement published on the 29th September.

The report highlights the importance of this year’s Health and Care Act as a key turning point in the development of increased patient safety. It says: ‘The Act introduces a new licensing system for practitioners who provide a range of more invasive non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England from carrying out specified cosmetic procedures unless they have a personal licence.

‘It also prohibits any person from using or permitting the use of premises in England “for the carrying out of specified cosmetic procedures” unless they have a premises licence.’ 

At this stage, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has not published a timeline for the implementation of this regulation. However the JCCP anticipates that licensing ‘is likely to begin in the early New Year’ and it will be followed by public consultation. 

Together, the  Cosmetic Practice Standards Authority (CPSA), the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), the British Beauty Council and the JCCP are calling for ‘injectable toxins, dermal fillers, vitamin infusions, platelet-rich plasma replacement therapy, cogs and threads, cyrolipolysis,  sclerotherapy, invasive chemical peels, a range of laser and light procedures and hair restoration surgery’ to be covered by the scheme.

Currently, those performing the above procedures do not need formal qualifications to practice which can cause serious harm to individuals – specifically if they are administered outside of a safe environment. 

The report continues: ‘We have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of harmful complications arising from a range of procedures many of which have been the result of sub-standard treatment administered by inappropriately qualified and poorly trained practitioners.  We are also seeing gross misrepresentation of the benefits of treatment, not least on social media and other online platforms. 

‘At the heart of the problem is a serious lack of independent information and advice for the public and the simple fact that this is an area that requires regulation.’ 

Although these developments are promising, there are still a number of areas that must be regulated to safeguard the cosmetics industry. In response, the JCCP has set out the below 10-point-plan which calls for:

• ‘Statutory regulation to ensure that only practitioners who meet the required standards for safe and effective practice can practise legally.
• National, mandatory education and training standards for all practitioners in these fields. 
• Clear, transparent information from service providers on risks, benefits, costs, qualifications, and insurance.
• A clear, legal definition of what constitutes a ‘medical’ procedure, a ‘medically-related’ service and a ‘cosmetic’ treatment. 
• Robust standards and regulation for the safe, ethical and professional prescribing of medications and preparations
• The need for the Government to make dermal fillers prescription only devices.
• Tighter controls on advertising and social media posts to prevent the promotion of unsafe, unethical and exaggerated messaging about products, education, training and service provision.
• A nationally agreed process for the reporting and analysis of complications and adverse incidents.
• A legal requirement that all cosmetic non-surgical and hair restoration surgical practitioners should hold an appropriate level of medical indemnity insurance to provide a proper redress scheme for service users.