How national regulation will improve patient outcomes

Non-surgical aesthetic treatments are a rapidly growing healthcare domain in the UK, significantly outnumbering surgical procedures. Analysis of The British Association of Aesthetics Plastic Surgeons’ (BAAPS) audit (2020-2021) reports a 27% decline in surgical treatments from 2020 to 2021 in the UK, while non-surgical treatments, such as dermal fillers and botulinum toxin injections, have increased (BAAPS, 2022). The global nonsurgical aesthetic treatment market was valued at USD $53.8 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow to USD $190 billion in 2030 (Grand View Research, 2020). The 2020 International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS) global audit also demonstrated the rising trend of non-surgical procedures;however, the UK data was not included due to poor survey uptake (ISAPS, 2020). Despite this growing global demand for non-surgical aesthetic treatments, the UK sector remains unregulated and without any statutory licensing. Following the 2021 Joint Council of Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) 10-point plan (Figure 1) (JCCP, 2021), this article looks at how national regulation in the non-surgical aesthetics sector will maximise patient outcomes.