ESPRAS calls for national legislation and specialist training standard for aesthetic surgery

The European Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (ESPRAS) has issued a call to action to combat the rise in under-trained ‘beauty surgeons’. 

ESPRAS, which represents all national associations in plastic surgery across Europe, is campaigning for national legislation that provides clear regulation of the aesthetic surgery industry Europe-wide. This would help protect patients from the risks posed when individuals practice aesthetic surgery without being certified plastic surgeons, or even properly trained in surgery at all.

While ESPRAS ensures that all its member plastic surgeons have advanced multi-year training in plastic surgery, in most European countries there is no law to stop medical doctors without specialisation calling themselves "aesthetic surgeons" or "beauty doctors". Shockingly, even paramedics can take on these titles with just a basic knowledge acquired over weekend courses or short plastic surgery attachments. 

This is far below the required standard for board-certified surgeons, who, when ESPRAS conducted a survey across 23 European countries, demonstrated multi-year specialisation, work rotations in ICU and emergency care, research and teaching placements, a proven catalogue of operations and a final exam. The results emphasise the need for the public to be made aware of the dangers of opting for a practitioner who is not trained to this standard. 

"Individuals who claim to be aesthetic surgeons, beauty surgeons, or beauty doctors without proper training as certified plastic surgeons may compromise patient safety,” says the president of ESPRAS, the consultant plastic surgeon Riccardo Giunta. “The financial allure of both aesthetic surgery and non-surgical aesthetics attracts many individuals, and the public is generally uninformed about the standard of care in training.”

“Patients may believe that a professional with these titles has the appropriate qualifications to ensure safety, but this may not be the case,” continues Giunta. “They may not have passed the standards of a board-certified plastic surgeon and lack essential knowledge. Unregulated commercial organisations perpetuate this issue, leading to the pseudo-legitimisation of under-trained individuals. Furthermore, although surgeons of other specialties have surgical training, they have not been trained in plastic surgery or have only limited plastic surgical training in their specific region of the body."

To combat the growing issue, ESPRAS is campaigning in support of national legislation that would regulate aesthetic surgery across Europe. The standard would help ensure that aesthetic surgeons have proven high-quality training and a focus on ensuring patient safety over financial gain.

For more information, visit espras.org