No more cosmetic surgery on the NHS, says Hunt

Cosmetic surgery purely to improve someone’s looks should not be available on the NHS, according to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

He said the decision to fund cosmetic surgery should be made only if there is a clinical need. Currently, plastic surgery is supposedto be free only if there is a mental or physical health risk to the patient, including reconstruction work for women after surgery for breast cancer. But some hospitals are thought to be conceding to patients’ demands for purely cosmetic procedures.

Mr Hunt said, “We should not be doing cosmetic work on the NHS. The decisions are taken on the basis of clinical need,but I have made it very clear that I am against purely cosmetic work being done. There will be times when there is a mental health need, which the local doctor has said is very serious.”