UK Government introduces patient Safety Campaign (an opinion piece)

‘Irony is wasted on the stupid’

Registered healthcare professionals have tirelessly tried to convey to the UK government for more than a decade that only a doctor, dentist or nurse should perform medical aesthetic procedures. Our pleas continue to fall on deaf ears. Aesthetic medicine is an important branch of modern-day healthcare but ironically, after the recent launch of the government's patient safety campaign, we are another step closer to demedicalisation.

It is both ironic and tragic that the UK government blatantly refuses to acknowledge that aesthetic medicine is a serious branch of medicine and that only registered healthcare professionals should be involved in the delivery of such care. Not only does the campaign fail to protect the British public, it offends and belittles every dedicated doctor, dentist and registered nurse practicing within the field.

Last month, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched the campaign in association with Save Face and the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP). I feel confident in stating that it is highly probable that the government chose not to be guided by the strong ethical stance of Save Face with regard to who should be carrying out medical aesthetic procedures in the UK. Instead, the leaders of the campaign have decided to support the inclusion and regulation of non-medics—such as beauty therapists and other lay people—within a field of medicine.