The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has issued a warning to beauty therapists and healthcare practitioners in Scotland around underinsurance of treatments.
APIL said practitioners must ensure they have adequate insurance to protect patients in the event of complications during non-surgical cosmetic treatments such as liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBL) and botulinum toxin injections. As the Scottish Government considers introducing a licensing scheme for practitioners, APIL has raised concerns about the lack of mandatory insurance for practitioners. This leaves patients vulnerable if things go wrong during treatments.
Gordon Dalyell, APIL’s Scotland representative, said, “Injuries can be serious and even life-changing when treatments go wrong. But astonishingly, there is no requirement for practitioners to be suitably insured so that injured victims can be compensated. We’ve told the Scottish Government that public liability insurance, as well as treatment risk insurance, should be mandatory for practitioners. When procedures are performed by healthcare practitioners, their insurance should cover medical negligence.”
APIL has also expressed concerns over the Scottish Government’s risk classification of treatments, warning that some procedures which can cause severe and permanent injuries are being placed in the lowest risk category.
