A coalition of leading surgical, medical and patient safety organisations has renewed calls for tighter regulation of cosmetic surgery in England.
In an open letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Member of Parlimant, Yvette Cooper, the group called on the Government to publish its long-promised consultation on high-risk cosmetic procedures and to use it to strengthen patient protections. The coalition was led by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and included royal colleges, specialist surgical associations and patient safety bodies. The letter was also signed by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, whose 2013 review into cosmetic interventions first recommended wide-ranging reform of the sector.
Professor Keogh, said, “13 years after the Independent Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions in 2013, complex cosmetic surgery performed by under qualified practitioners remains an avoidable risk to the public that could be reduced by tighter regulation that recognises the risk of some of cosmetic procedures.”