Cosmetic surgery patients remain at risk 13 years after review, leading surgeons warn

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By Ella Pickover, PA Media

Cosmetic surgery performed by under-qualified practitioners “remains an avoidable risk to the public” surgical experts say, a decade after a seminal review into such procedures.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, former chief medical officer of the NHS in England, has joined with leading surgical and medical organisations to warn that patients continue to face unnecessary risk.

A letter penned by surgical experts to health secretary Yvette Cooper said “nothing has changed” a year after the government announced it would regulate high-risk cosmetic procedures and 13 years after the Keogh Review, which called for reform of cosmetic interventions.

The letter, led by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England), warned there was a “serious regulatory gap in cosmetic surgery” whereby any doctor could perform cosmetic surgery, including breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, facelifts and liposuction, even if they were not recognised as a specialist surgeon.

Patients expect those carrying out these invasive procedures to be specialists in the field, according to the letter signed by a number of royal colleges, specialist surgical associations and patient safety organisations.