European Aesthetic Surgery Services standard is given the go-ahead to publish

The regulation landscape for medical aesthetics and cosmetic surgery in the UK has been a rocky one blighted by media headlines of procedures gone wrong and unscrupulous practice. While much noise has been made about the lack of regulationand standards of practice in the industry, especiallyin the wake of the PIP scandal and the governmentreview by Sir Bruce Keogh that followed, little hasbeen done to ignite real change. So news that the vote to publish the European standard EN 16372 Aesthetic Surgery Services hadbeen successful was welcomed as a positive step inthe right direction. While we are still waiting on theoutcome of the non-surgical standards, this documentwill provide European-wide guidelines for private plasticsurgery clinics who provide their services to anybody wantingto change their physical appearance by cosmetic surgery. BSI, the business standards company, has worked collaboratively with professionals within the cosmeticsurgery industry to develop the new standards. MikeRegan, chair to BSI Committee CH403 – Aesthetic SurgeryServices, said, “For the past three and a half years anew pan European services standard for aestheticsurgery has been in development. This workhas been coordinated at the Europeanlevel by CEN, the European Committeefor Standardisation. Member states,including the UK, have been makingconsiderable input into this work. Two public consultations have been held across the whole ofEurope. The resulting draft of thestandard was sent out for finalvote to all national committees. The vote was successful and the document will be publishedwithin the next few months.”The standard was developed toprovide an improvement in the levelof aesthetic surgery services to enhance patient safety and satisfaction and reduce the risk of complications. The aim is to promote consistently highstandards for aesthetic surgery service providers acrossEurope and the UK. It has been developed in conjunctionwith a second proposed European Standard on non-surgicalcosmetic treatments, which is still under deliberation. The market is already “Europeanised” with patientstravelling to other countries to have procedures, wheremarkets are often unregulated and patients are vulnerableto complications. The standard will help create a levelplaying field in Europe and ensure that the reputation ofcompetent well-trained surgeons is not compromised atthe hands of those who are not fit to practice. The standard provides a set of requirements, which are considered essential for the provision of aesthetic surgeryservices by private facilities. It covers the entire servicelevel: before, during and after the aesthetic procedure hasbeen carried out. It includes:

• Ethics and marketing
• Consultation procedure
• Competencies
• Management and communication with patients
• Available facilities
• Categorisation and risk level of the procedures

Anne Hayes, head of market development for governanceand risk at BSI said, “This is a very significant move increating an equal system for both the UK and Europe. Inan area where the public choose to have a procedure, it isimportant that standards exist and provide confidence toboth patients and those working in the sector. EN 16372enables this to happen.” Some of the organisations involved in the consensus-baseddevelopment of EN 16372 include the BritishAssociation of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), BritishAssociation of Plastic Reconstructive and Aestheticsurgeons (BAPRAS) and Independent Healthcare AdvisoryServices (IHAS) amongst others. Nigel Mercer, vice president at BAPRAS and past president of BAAPS commented, “We often hear andsee cases within aesthetic surgery where patients havesuffered complications or faced unnecessary risks as aresult of poorly qualified practitioners. Patient safetyhas to be the primary consideration for everyone workingwithin this specialised field. Now, the impending Europeanstandard for Aesthetic Surgery Services means thatpatients can have the peace of mind that they are beingtreated by an appropriately qualified practitioner, in anappropriate facility, in accordance to set guidelines, whichinclude standards on advertising.”