Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry publishes its first report
The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR) has released its first report.
The voluntary register was launched in October 2016 following concerns raised in the wake of the Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) scandal 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.
The report showed that so far 20,095 patients have been recorded as having at least one operation. 275 organisations had entered their data including 109 from the NHS and 166 from the independent sector.
Following the release of the report, a joint statement was published by Mr Graeme Perks, BCIR representative for the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS); Mr Simon Withey, BCIR Representative for The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS); and Mr Lee Martin, BCIR Representative for The Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) to welcome the news of the first publish report from England’s Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR).
The statement said, “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 BCIRalongside NHS Digital.
“With over 20,000 women receiving breast implants forreconstructive 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.”
