An ITV X documentary found potentially deadly treatments such as liposuction and liquid Brazilian butt lifts were being carried out by people who had just a few hours training
Get clinics regulated
The Mirror has repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by an unregulated and profit-hungry cosmetic industry. In the past few years lives have been lost and hundreds of others have been left maimed or scarred after botched beauty procedures.
With an ITV X documentary finding treatments such as liposuction and liquid Brazilian butt lifts being carried out by people with just a few hours training, Wes Streeting is right to describe the situation as the Wild West.
It is now imperative the Health Secretary fulfils his pledge to regulate the sector. The best way is to set up a licensing scheme.
To be registered, firms would need to prove the treatments on offer are surgically safe and that their staff are fully qualified and insured. Responsible practitioners have nothing to fear – and rogue practitioners would hopefully be driven out of business.
A bitter pill
The decision by pharmacists to take collective action is a cry for help from an under-funded and under-valued sector.
Members of the National Pharmacy Association will be fully aware that the work to rule will be a major inconvenience to their loyal customers and patients. But they were left with no alternative after their pleas for more support fell on deaf ears.
In the past decade real-term funding for pharmacies in England has fallen by 40%. More than 1,100 chemists have closed, more than a third of which were serving the most deprived areas, and many others have been forced to cut back opening hours.
If the situation does not change then more will be forced out of business, to the detriment of patients and the rest of the NHS.
Greatest role
Timothy West was a giant of the stage and screen but he will also be remembered as a loving husband and father.
His marriage to Prunella Scales was one of the happiest and most enduring in show business. Our thoughts are with Pru and her family.
