The JCCP responds to the DHSC licensing consultation

On September 2, the Government announced a public consultation on the matter of licensing non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) has shared its response to the questions posed by the Department for Health and Care.

The statement urged the DHSC to put in place a “legislative framework that mandates all practitioners to comply with nationally endorsed education and training standards, fit and proper person ‘tests’, robust insurance set at appropriate levels for medical indemnity, complaints procedures and access to redress schemes and compliance with the need to work from safe, hygienic, and health-protected premises.”

It also affirmed its belief that the high-risk procedures should come under the scope of the CQC, but that the DHSC would need to introduce ‘robust powers of enforcement’ to ensure that the licensing rules are followed.

The council agreed that there was a need for regulation and that the government’s proposal of a traffic light system was in line with what it had been advocating for, a risk-stratified approach to differentiating between categories of procedures.

The statement shared its revisions to the categories, and also its belief that clearer definition is needed for some of the categorised treatments e.g., ‘two or more combined interventions’ when both or all are non-invasive.

Some stand-out revisions that the JCCP wants made:

• All ablative and CO₂  should be moved to Red
• No needle fillers should be moved from Green to Amber (subject to a required evidence-based review regarding ‘fail-safe’ devices)
• Permanent dermal fillers should be moved to Red
• All weight loss injectable and vitamin injectable procedures should be moved to the Red category
• Cellulite subcision should be moved to the Red category.

You can read the full response here.