THE Thurrock MP and Government's health minister has insisted the Government is looking closely at the regulation of cosmetic procedures.

In a debate in the House of Commons last week Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price said that the Government was investigating further regulation.

Proposals will be brought forward to strengthen consumer protection and establish appropriate standards for the industry.

Jackie said: “The industry is ever-expanding. We have heard that treatments are now available on the high street in places such as Superdrug, but this is not like going to have a haircut.

"When things are injected into a person’s face, if it goes wrong, it takes a lot longer to fix than letting their hair grow again would. We need to be sure that we are properly looking after consumers, including their safety.

“We still have a long way to go in both empowering the public and ensuring that all such procedures are administered by skilled practitioners. I wholly endorse the demand that such practitioners should have professional indemnity insurance. It is important that the NHS has the opportunity to recover the costs of repairing procedures carried out by those practitioners, who should bear the risks.

“We need to do much more in the area of public education, to ensure that consumers fully appreciate that there are risks involved in injecting substances into one’s face, and to ensure that the person doing so has appropriate qualifications. Botox is obviously a prescription drug, but the person injecting it does not have to be the person who obtained the prescription. That is another thing that we need to address. I can also advise that we will be making dermal fillers a regulated medical device, which will remove some of the risks associated with them”.

The Minister also called on practitioners to join the registration scheme run by the Joint council of Cosmetic practitioners, (JCCP).

Mrs Doyle-Price added: “We need to work closely with the JCCP to develop hallmarks that people who wish to undergo these procedures can look for, so that they can be sure that they are obtaining treatment from a regulated practitioner.

"Some 600 practitioners are currently covered by these registers, but significantly more than 600 practitioners offer these treatments. There is some way to go in ensuring that all those involved in this industry perform to the standards that we can legitimately expect, and that those who are not doing so exit the industry.”