Highlighting Training/Qualification
Aesthetic Practitioners were pleased to see BBC Watchdog’s investigation into the safety of cosmetic treatments on the High Street, which explained that not all practitioners are qualified or trained.
The episode aired on Wednesday 21st November. Rylan Clark-Neal presented the section, saying:
“News that Superdrug is starting to offer BOTOX® and fillers shows how mainstream these treatments have become.”
The investigation highlighted that cosmetic treatments are now available on the high street but that not all practitioners have any training or qualifications.
The BBC Watchdog feature included the case of Meg who had lip fillers carried out at a hair salon in Newcastle, but suffered blistery and painful lumps. She called on a nurse friend for advice, who squeezed the filler out. Meg’s friend showed her the extracted filler and said it could be a bad, cheap product. Meg said it looked ‘like candle wax’. She later discovered that she was not the only one to have problems, as the same person who injected her lips had done other ‘botch jobs’ in salons in the North East.
Rylan explained:
“…one of big reasons BOTOX® and fillers are available all over the place is that you don’t need to be qualified to administer them.”
Ashton Collins of Save Face told Rylan that there are literally thousands of unqualified practitioners carrying out cosmetic treatments in the UK. She said that Save Face had 934 complaints in the previous year of which 83% involved non-medical practitioners and the vast majority had no previous experience.
At present, there is no regulation to prevent individuals with no medical qualifications from importing fillers and starting to inject.
Steph McGovern concluded:
“The Department of Health says it’s now looking at how to strengthen the regulation of cosmetic procedures and improve safety.”
Nikki Fox continued:
“It also says it wants anyone considering a cosmetic procedure to be able to make an informed decision, so look for someone whose qualifications you can check or who’s on one of the voluntary registers.”
Watch the episode in full at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bsrqd7. The feature on BOTOX® starts at around 45 minutes.
Aesthetic Practitioners Respond
Aesthetic Practitioners have largely welcomed the programme’s exposure of the risks to the patient of having treatment with an unqualified or untrained person, as well as the problems that bad product could cause. Some felt that the programme could have gone further in emphasising the specific risks that patients take when choosing an unqualified person. On balance, the programme was welcomed for promoting the importance of choosing a practitioner carefully but did not put people off having treatments at all.
SkinViva Training Academy Manchester
SkinViva Training Ltd offer a range of professional training courses for cosmetic and medical skin treatments.
Their courses in cosmetic treatments directed at suitably qualified and registered medical professionals who wish to learn and build on their skills in delivering these procedures. SkinViva do not train beauticians or other non-medically qualified persons. See our Entry Requirements for more information (criteria on who can train) .
See our full list of forthcoming training course dates.
SkinViva Training Academy was established in 2013 by Dr Tim Pearce MBChB BSc (Hons) MRCGP – learn more about us. The SkinViva Training Academy team upholds high standards of clinical training providing a combination of fully-supervised practical experience together with essential theory.
For further information, to discuss which course is right for you, to enquire about availability or to book a training course please call 0161 850 2491, or email info@skinvivatraining.com.
