NHS Medical Director, Sir Bruce Keogh, says he wants to stamp out ‘grubby practices’ in the industry following the PIP breast implant scandal.
In the wake of the PIP Implant scandal a Department of Health review into the cosmetic surgery industry take place.
The NHS Medical Director, Sir Bruce Keogh, warned that there were underqualified surgeons working in the “dark recesses” of the trade who were putting patients health at risk by performing procedures they are not qualified to do.
The review is expected to recommend a cooling-off period before cosmetic work, minimum standards for surgeons and a requirement for the long-term risks to health of any procedure to be fully explained.
Sir Bruce warned that many people undertaking major procedures for aesthetic reasons did not realise that they could have lifelong implications.
He called for tighter rules making it compulsory for surgeons to register all devices – from breast implants to hip replacements – in order to trace patients if problems emerged later on.
Other areas of concern highlighted by Sir Bruce include anti-ageing dermal fillers, which can currently be legally injected by anyone, and do not require specialist medical training, and minimum standards of training for surgeons who want to carry out cosmetic procedures.
The review will be overseen by an expert panel made up of Catherine Kydd, who campaigns on behalf of women affected by the PIP scandal, Andrew Vallance-Owen, a former medical director of Bupa, and Trish Halpin, the editor of Marie Claire magazine, along with Sir Bruce.
They will gather evidence before making recommendations to the Government in March.
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