Establishing an evidence base is key to safeguarding patients, says Professor David Sines
Establishing a clear evidence base to the actual harm posed to the public from cosmetic interventions is key as the industry moves forward in its development of a self-regulatory model, according to Professor David Sines, chair of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP).
Speaking at the JCCP stakeholders meeting in London last month Professor Sines said, “Sir Bruce Keogh was very clear about the need to develop standards to underpin what has been regarded as a rather elusive evidence base with regards to cosmetic treatments and interventions. “We are moving towards gathering real evidence together through the Cosmetic Practice Standards Authority (CPSA) on the actual evidence base for providing a proportionate response to safeguard the public, not a disproportionate or unnecessary response, and that is a vital part of what we are doing.”
The CPSA standards will cover the modalities that were identified by the Keogh Review and Healthcare Education England (HEE) report on qualification requirements for delivery of cosmetic procedures as being the highest risk to the public. These include lasers and light, dermal fillers and botulinum toxin, skin peels and hair restoration surgery. The standards went out for consultation to the newly established stakeholder council on September 25 and are due to be published in December 2017, before the registers for practitioners and training and education providers go live in January 2018.They will serve as a benchmark for inclusion on the JCCP registers. An important part of this will be collecting data about adverse reactions and complications as a requirement for any registrant.
