BAPRAS welcomes new proposals to protect cosmetic surgery patients

BAPRAS wholeheartedly welcomes the proposal put forward by the Cosmetic Surgery Interspecialty Committee (CSIC) to introduce a certification scheme for cosmetic surgery providers operating in public and private practice. We are delighted to see that all surgeons working in cosmetic surgery will have to be, not only listed on the GMC’s specialist register, but also only allowed to operate within that area of training. We are very pleased to see that the surgeon must prove they are adequately trained in the procedures they wish to perform and on the insistence on individual surgeon's outcome data, both of which make choosing a surgeon a safer decision for patients to make. This tightening of existing regulations will go a long way to help prospective patients and employing clinics recognise high quality surgical expertise, leading to improved patient safety.

Sir Bruce Keogh’s Review of the Regulations of Cosmetic Interventions demonstrated that a number of changes need to be made to how cosmetic procedures are delivered in the UK to better protect patients, and these proposals would help to ensure all cosmetic surgeons in the UK are certified to the same high level. BAPRAS remains committed to improving standards in cosmetic surgery and we look forward to working with CSIC throughout this consultation process.

Read the College proposal here