Coalition of British breast and plastic surgeons welcome the news that over 20,000 operations have been recorded on England’s Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry

Today, The British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS), The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and The Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) welcome the news that England’s Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR) has published its first report, detailing over 20,000 breast implant operations across England.

The BCIR was launched in October 2016 in response to safety concerns following the high rupture rate of Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) and the inability to trace women who might be affected.

The English registry is one of only three comprehensive databases in Europe, behind just the Netherlands and Sweden.

BAAPS, ABS and BAPRAS have long-championed the need for a registry and are pleased to sit on the steering committee responsible for the development and running of the BCIR alongside NHS Digital.

With over 20,000 women receiving breast implants for reconstructive or cosmetic reasons in the last year, the registry is a vital patient safety initiative which enables the collection of long-term safety data and ensures the patient recipients of specific makes of implants can be traced, if needed.

Due to the recently identified link between breast implants and a rare form of cancer called Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL the importance of accurately recording this data is crucial.

Currently, submission to the registry is not mandatory, but BAAPS, ABS and BAPRAS encourage all women receiving implants to consent to the submission of data.    The associations look forward to this invaluable patient safety asset becoming available across all devolved nations.

Mr Graeme Perks, BCIR Representative for BAPRAS

Mr Lee Martin, BCIR Representative for ABS

Mr Simon Withey, BCIR Representative for BAAPS

Notes to Editors:

• BAPRAS, the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, ABS, the Association of Breast Surgery and BAAPS, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons are specialty professional associations within the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).
• For information on BAPRAS and the ‘Think Over Before You Make Over’ campaign, please visit http://www.bapras.org.uk/ and @BAPRASvoice on Twitter
• For more information about BAAPS, please visit http://baaps.org.uk/ and @BAAPSMedia on Twitter
• For more information about ABS, please visit http://www.associationofbreastsurgery.org.uk/ and @ABSGBI on Twitter

Representatives from the organisations are available for interview.