Scheme to register Botox clinics is criticised for “lacking teeth”

Surgeons have called for the scrapping of a scheme designed to offer some protection against unscrupulous practices among clinics and beauty parlours that provide cosmetic injectable treatments, such as botulinum toxin and cosmetic fillers.

The government has asked the cosmetic industry’s trade association, the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services, to set up a register of providers of injectable cosmetics to ensure standards of safety. The scheme, which launched to the public this week (www.treatmentsyoucantrust.co.uk), registers only organisations whose practitioners are doctors, dentists, and registered nurses who have had proper training. Clinics must also meet certain standards, such as health and …