In a victory for the Mirror’s cosmetic surgery campaign, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said ministers will set out new regulations to deal with misconduct in the UK
A major crackdown on cosmetic cowboys who carry out dangerous surgical procedures on Britain’s high streets will be set out over the next week.
In a victory for the Mirror’s cosmetic surgery campaign, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said ministers will set out new regulations to deal with misconduct in the UK.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, Mr Streeting said: “Because of the lack of regulation, we’ve basically got cosmetic cowboys that basically – I’m not even going to use the word ‘treating’ women – they are practising on women and causing serious, catastrophic damage.
“So, we are going to act and in the coming days and weeks, we are going to be setting out the regulations we’re going to put in place to clamp down on this sort of practice here at home.”
READ MORE: Health Secretary throws weight behind Mirror’s campaign to end cowboy cosmetic surgery
Pressed for more details on the timing of the announcement, Mr Streeting said: “Over the next week or so, you should hear from the government on what we’re doing to clamp down on cosmetic cowboys here at home. When it comes to overseas, it is more complicated but I am working with the team across government, and also other governments around the world, to try and clamp down on this.”
During the interview, Mr Streeting was played a tragic clip of Dane Knight, whose partner and mum-of-five Alice Webb, 33, last year became the first person to die following a liquid BBL in a UK clinic. “I would hate to see another family go through, you know, more kids burying their mum, another partner, burying their partner,” Dane said.
Mr Streeting said: “Just hearing Dane speaking there, and the thought of five children being left behind because they’ve lost their mother in these circumstances, that motivates me to act.
“And I hope that for people watching as well, it’s just really the worst possible reminder, when you’re seeing things being marketed online, just think really carefully before you take up things that look too good to be true.”
Dane, campaign group Save Face and the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons are joining us in demanding action to stop devastating cosmetic procedures in Britain’s aesthetics industry. The Mirror is demanding that all beauty clinics offering potentially dangerous procedures, including ‘high risk’ treatments such as BBLs, liposuction, surgical facelifts and surgical eye lifts, are licensed by the Quality Care Commission.
Our campaign also calls for all procedures to be surgically safe and carried out only by fully trained medical professionals, as well as for it to be made a legal requirement for practitioners who offer non-surgical interventions to have malpractice insurance.
The Royal College of Surgeons has warned that cosmetic procedures must be regulated “as soon as possible before there is another death”. It is feared there could be between 100,000 and 200,000 “aesthetic practitioners” operating in High Streets and from homes around the country. The exact number is unknown.
All doctors performing cosmetic surgery in the UK must be registered with and licensed to practice by the General Medical Council. But issues have risen after a surge in non-surgical procedures such as Botox, anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers carried out by private providers.
Current regulation places few restrictions on who can perform such procedures.
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