RCS News- Changes in cosmetic surgery

06 November 2015

RCS calls on surgeons & private hospitals to prepare for changes in cosmetic surgery

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) is launching a range of new tools and services to improve the quality of care for cosmetic surgery patients. These will be launched by mid-2016. Our aim is to help:

• patients to make the best decision about the procedure they are considering, and to choose the right surgeon and hospital for them
• surgeons to demonstrate the quality of care they offer while also helping them to review outcomes and, where necessary, improve practice;
• providers of cosmetic surgery to assess the quality and safety of their services; andregulators, who make sure that people are provided with safe, effective and high-quality care.
   

Most surgeons who perform cosmetic surgery provide good care to their patients. However, the Keogh Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions (2013) highlighted an urgent need for robust regulation of cosmetic practice and made recommendations to address the problems identified.

Through the Cosmetic Surgery Interspecialty Committee (CSIC) we have been working with patients, surgical professional associations, healthcare organisations, regulators, government departments and providers to address the recommendations about cosmetic surgery. The recommendations can be read in full on the Department of Health’s website, but can broadly be divided into the following areas:

• developing standardised patient information;
• identifying clinical outcome measures;
• setting standards for training and practice (particularly on ethical issues);
• establishing a system of certification.
   

To find out more information please click here