The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a consultation on proposals to restrict high-risk cosmetic procedures in England to regulated healthcare professionals.
The consultation follows the Government’s announcement in August 2025 that it would prioritise restrictions on the highest-risk procedures and develop a separate local authority licensing scheme for lower-risk treatments, including botulinum toxin injections and facial fillers. Those plans followed a 2023 consultation on non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which received nearly 12,000 responses.
Under the draft rules, injecting filler into parts of the body other than the face would be legally classified as cosmetic surgery. This would include liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs), in which filler is injected into the buttocks, and would mean that only doctors could perform the procedures.
Other treatments classed as high risk – including deep chemical peels, platelet-rich-plasma facials, dermal micro-coring and certain laser procedures – would be restricted to doctors, dentists and specified nurses, midwives and pharmacists. The precise scope of those restrictions remains subject to consultation.
The proposals would also prevent under-18s from undergoing high-risk cosmetic and wellbeing treatments. Cosmetic botulinum toxin injections and fillers for under-18s are already restricted under separate legislation.
Providers who breach the proposed rules could face criminal proceedings and unlimited fines, or fixed penalties of up to £4,000. The measures are not yet law.
The Government is seeking views from clinicians, regulators, businesses, the public and other experts on the draft regulations before taking the proposals through Parliament, currently planned for spring 2027.
Separate from the consultation on high-risk procedures, the Government says it remains committed to introducing a licensing scheme for clinics offering botulinum toxin injections, lip fillers and other lower-risk treatments. The scheme is intended to require clinics to meet safety standards but has not yet been implemented.
The Aesthetics Clinical Advisory Board, commented “Restricting the highest-risk procedures to regulated healthcare professionals is the right thing to do. Whether body filler should be legally defined as a cosmetic surgical procedure is a separate question that the consultation needs to examine carefully. It is a high-risk treatment and should be carried out by professionals equipped to manage complications, but calling it surgery may not be the right answer. The proposed restrictions for under-18s matter just as much. Young people may be exposed to pressure to undergo treatments they do not need, making careful assessment and informed consent essential. These proposals are not yet law, and a separate licensing scheme for treatments such as botulinum toxin injections and facial fillers is still to come. Rules only go so far. What protects patients is a clinician who listens, assesses them properly, is willing to say no and is still there if something goes wrong.”
Aesthetics reached out to the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), who commented, “The Red restrictions fall within Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s remit which means that they will implement the safeguards and expected standards of competence required. The JCCP will continue to work with the CQC and others to assist with any guidance that they may require. Moving beyond the Red category and into discussions which formalise the Amber and Green categories will provide the opportunity to close potential gaps in regulation to protect public safety. We expect the separate licensing regime to follow the same or similar lines to that that which was proposed in 2023, addressing the problems identified at that time and since.”
Health Minister Karin Smyth commented, “If you’re planning to undergo a major cosmetic procedure, you deserve to know you’re in safe hands – not risking your life with a rogue operator. These changes mean that only properly trained professionals can carry out the most serious, high-risk procedures, and that young people will be shielded from treatments that can go badly wrong. We want to drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market and raise standards across the board, giving reputable businesses a fair chance to thrive by helping people identify safe, qualified providers they can trust.”