I am delighted as the Executive Chair of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) to be able to write this update at such a critical point in the debate regarding public protection and regulation for the aesthetic industry in the UK. I am fully aware of the controversy that imbues the sector about regulation, standards, qualifications, practitioner registration, products, advertising, premises etc.to name just a few of the issues that inform my mail box every day. However, I am pleased to say that the single overriding driver that unites all of us in this sector is the need to focus on patient safety and public protection.
The establishment of the JCCP has been a challenging endeavour, characterised by excellent sector engagement and scrutiny from a myriad of interest groups that occupy space within this rapidly expanding and exciting sector. As the Executive Chair of the Council, I have had to steer a course that has been informed by ‘listening’ to multiple opinions and driven by a genuine attempt to bring as many of the key interest groups and people together, while working within the constraints of existing Government legislation and regulation. This is a role that I have embraced as a fully independent ‘Chair’.
I believe we are starting to see a gradual change in the attitude towards regulation at Government level. Jackie Doyle-Price, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for ‘Cosmetic Regulation’ in England, recently convened a roundtable event for key stakeholders to consider how issues of patient safety and protection can be best and most effectively addressed. The meeting explored a range of key issues relating to public protection and in particular to practitioner education and training, procedural competence, the building of public awareness and product licensing. I am sure that 2019 will bear witness to enhanced Government interest and exploration in this range of patient safety-related matters.
I am also delighted to see the significant progress that has been made by the Scottish Government with regard to the regulation of premises for aesthetic practitioners, accompanied by a lively debate regarding practitioner regulation.
» We are starting to see a gradual change in the attitude towards regulation at Government level «
The JCCP has also made progress in many areas since its inception in January 2015. Working closely with its sister standard setting body, the Cosmetic Standards Practice Authority (CPSA) and in consultation with hundreds of industry experts and practitioners, it has developed a comprehensive set of standards across all of the key treatment modalities, updated the Health Education England (HEE) qualifications frame-work and opened registers for practitioners and education and training providers which have been approved by the Government regulator—the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
These standards, as well as the JCCP/CPSA Code of Practice and the JCCP's associated Fitness to Practice Procedures have now all been recognised by major professional statutory regulated bodies (PSRBs), including the GMC, NMC, GDC, and the GPhC by way of detailed signed Memorandum of Understanding. To these agreements I would add also agreed Memoranda of Understanding with OfQual and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)— the Government regulators of vocational qualifications in England and Scotland. We are also addressing the critical issue of ‘bogus’ advertising by practitioners and training companies via our agreement with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Over the past year, the JCCP has been the subject of multiple communications and publicity postings across all media channels—some of which has been misleading and based on false premise. I would therefore like to take the opportunity to address some of the key areas of misinformation. The JCCP is a ‘not for profit’ registered UK charity and no individual benefits from income are generated. It has an independent Board of Trustees made up of lay and professional members which I chair and whom are accountable to the UK Charity Commission. We operate two voluntary registers: one for practitioners and one for education and training providers. The entry requirements for both registers are published on our website.
The Practitioner Register is divided into two parts: Part A for medical practitioners registered with PSRB's and Part B for non-medical practitioners. The JCCP does not accept registration from any non-medical practitioner for injectables and fillers. Candidates for the register have to meet a comprehensive set of entry requirements and produce evidence of experience, qualifications, indemnity insurance and a number of other key published pre-requisites. The JCCP is also in the process of establishing procedures whereby existing healthcare practitioners who do not have recognised qualifications can attend an approved JCCP Assessment Centre to demonstrate evidence of competence, knowledge and skills through the completion of an ‘end point assessment’.
The JCCP Education and Training Register is now open and has approved its first providers and qualifications. This is a major and complex area where there is much additional work to do, and I encourage you to become involved with the JCCP to inform and assist us to continue to develop our policies and procedural frameworks.
Finally, I would make a plea to all of you who are involved in this exciting and rapidly growing sector. It is in everybody's interest to come together and unite around the need for statutory regulation based on our shared commitment to collectively play a part in raising awareness amongst the public of the risks involved in the administration of aesthetic treatments and the need for them to receive such treatments only from a trained, recognised and accountable practitioner. The JCCP is an open and democratic body and represents a community of interest where all parties are welcome as long as you share a positive approach to moving things forward and share our commitment to public protection and patient safety. For all those hundreds of practitioners, companies, bodies and individuals who have contributed and shared our journey so far, I offer my sincere thanks.