Cosmetic ops 'hard sell' opposed

Written By Unknown on Senin, 31 Desember 2012 | 16.50

31 December 2012 Last updated at 04:11 ET

People responding to a public consultation on cosmetic surgery have called for a ban on cut-price deals and aggressive sales techniques.

Responses from patients, the public and industry, are being published as part of the review set up after the PIP breast implant scandal last year.

A final report, by Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, is due in March.

A spokesman for cosmetic surgeons said procedures should not be sold as "a commodity".

The health secretary asked Sir Bruce to look at the regulation and safety of products used in cosmetic surgery and the care given to patients both during and after their treatment.

'Time to think'

Among the 180 responses to the consultation were calls for less aggressive selling of cosmetic procedures and tighter restrictions on advertising, for example a ban on two-for-one and time-limited deals - and on offering cosmetic surgery as competition prizes.

Providing patients with photos of expected bruising and scarring, as well as more detail on the risks associated with surgery should be standard procedure too, a respondent said.

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Sabrina Elliott decided to have breast surgery 11 years ago, aged 23, following childbirth.

She says she feels the clinic she went to put "pressure" on her to sign up to the operation.

Ms Elliott says she was offered a "lifetime guarantee" at a consultation with a company secretary but was told the offer would expire within 48 hours.

She took up the offer after receiving a follow-up call on the same day telling her it was a "once-in-a-lifetime chance".

However, the firm went into liquidation two years later.

The implants she had fitted were PIP - and she says she now experiences pain on a daily basis. The NHS is currently refusing to remove them, she says.

"It's terrible. I'm a single mum now and a full-time student - sometimes it's difficult to pick up my two-year-old daughter because of the pain I'm in," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

Sabrina Elliott says she was put under "pressure" to sign up to a breast implant operation within 48 hours, so as to be entitled to a "lifetime guarantee".

Ms Elliott took up the offer but the company later went into liquidation and she says her PIP implants are causing a range of health complications, including a slow silicon bleed which means she is in pain on a daily basis.

"There was pressure. The pressure was to get that lifetime guarantee because it was really put to us that it was only with this company," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

She went on: "Unfortunately I paid nearly £4,000 to have harmful chemicals put in my body to which to date I am still suffering [from]."

GP Dr Rosemary Leonard, the BBC Breakfast doctor and review committee member, said patients should always talk to a doctor first.

"It is wrong that the first consultation is with a sales person rather than a medical professional.

"Surgery - indeed any cosmetic intervention - is a serious step, and a patient must be told about the immediate side effects after surgery as well as any potential long term effects on their health."

Rajiv Grover, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) welcomed the call to end the practice of sales people holding consultations.

He said: "We're pleased that the report - and public opinion - so strongly reflects our own views.

Vivienne Parry

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Review panel member Vivienne Parry says "people are not made aware of the risks"

"We have made the comparison between cosmetic surgery being sold as a commodity, much as a washing machine or off-the-shelf beauty products, many times before.

"Medical procedures simply cannot continue to be promoted in this manner and although it is tragic that it has taken a crisis of the magnitude of PIP to make the world sit up and take notice, it seems we're finally making headway towards a safer environment for patients.

"It's time to scrub up and take action to restore confidence in our sector."


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