Cosmetic procedures: ethical issues

This report examines the growing proliferation, promotion and use of invasive cosmetic procedures. It explores ethical issues in cosmetic procedures with a particular focus on the role and responsibilities of health and scientific professionals and others in responding to demand for invasive non-reconstructive procedures that aim to enhance or normalise appearance.

It concludes that action to promote ethical practice is needed both with respect to influences that encourage people to consider cosmetic procedures, and to the supply of those procedures. It also finds that better data on the use of procedures, and more research to improve the evidence base, are urgently needed in order to improve practice and protect prospective users. The report concludes that all the recommendations in the 2013 Keogh review of the regulation of cosmetic interventions should be implemented in full, and makes a number of additional recommendations for policy-makers and others.

Key recommendations include:

• The Royal College of Surgeons, the General Medical Council, the major providers of cosmetic surgery, and professional bodies representing surgeons in the cosmetic sector should work together to ensure that all surgeons undertaking cosmetic surgery are certified to do so, and can access the necessary training.
• Public Health England should initiate a public awareness campaign to alert prospective users of cosmetic procedures to the importance of seeking practitioners who are ‘quality-marked’ through membership of a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
• A ban on offering cosmetic procedures to children and young people under the age of 18, other than in the context of multidisciplinary healthcare.
• Social media companies should collaborate to fund independent research on how social media may contribute to appearance anxiety, and how this can be minimised; and should act on the findings
• Download the key recommendations.

Project team