Fashion Brief
The NHS has urged Superdrug to screen customers before providing Botox and fillers in order to protect vulnerable people.
The retailer announced last month that it would offer the anti-wrinkle and skin rejuvenation treatments on the high street to customers over the age of 25.
Prof Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, has called for assurances that the service is “clinically sound and medically responsible”.
In a letter to Superdrug, he said staff must be trained to check for people with body image disorder or unrealistic expectations about the procedures in the interests of protecting potentially vulnerable members of the public.
The Skin Renew service, which has launched in Superdrug’s store in the Strand, central London, and is to be rolled out nationwide, is available only after a phone booking and consultation with a qualified nurse. The procedures start at £99 and are carried out in a private consultation room.
In a letter to Peter Macnab, the chief executive of Superdrug’s parent company, AS Watson Health and Beauty UK, Powis said the treatments could pose a risk to patients.
“I understand that your company is set to offer cosmetic non-surgical procedures in your high street outlets,” he wrote. “These interventions are invasive procedures and may be accompanied by serious risks.
“They should be offered only in situations where they are accompanied by a robust level of clinical governance, and they should be provided only by trained professionals with a full understanding of the implications and risks involved.”
Powis requested details of the training and qualifications of the staff who would carry out the procedures and reassurances that clinicians and patients would be aware of possible complications.
He also asked Superdrug to confirm it had adopted the professional standards for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Powis said: “While I expect that all appropriate safeguards are in place for your service, you will know that the unchecked proliferation of providers offering cosmetic procedures introduces a risk to patient safety unless strong and vigilant clinical risk assessments are established.”
A spokeswoman for Superdrug said: “Having reviewed the letter from Professor Stephen Powis we will be providing him with the full details on the qualifications of our practitioner and the processes we have in place to ensure the very highest standards of care and patient safety.
“We’re highly supportive of championing a more regulated service to further ensure patients’ safety in aesthetic treatments and would welcome the opportunity to work with the NHS England and other organisations to achieve this aim.”
