Taneesa Williamson The Australian Government has now intervened to stop the ‘Wild West’ of cosmetic surgery.
In a long-awaited action to protect patients from dangerous ‘cosmetic surgeons‘, the Australian Government has intervened with a decision that ASAPS President Dr Robert Sheen describes as “long awaited common sense” and “change that we have been calling for, for years”.
The Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) has commended the intervention of the Australian government to enforce safeguards against the inconsiderate and ‘butchering acts’ of patients by self-proclaimed ‘cosmetic surgeons’.
These outlined changes will tighten the law to ensure any practitioner who calls themselves a cosmetic surgeon must have completed Australian Medical Council accredited surgical training – the Australian standard for all registered surgical specialists. Another key recommendations, Health Ministers agreed on last week, is banning doctors using patient testimonials for cosmetic surgery including on social media.
Surgeons of all fields have had a minimum of 8-12 additional years of study beyond a basic medical degree, ongoing training and professional development every year (Continued Professional Development) with rigorous assessment and scrutiny of their cases. This standard exists – it has just simply not been enforced for those who call themselves a cosmetic surgeon… up until now.
Dr Robert Sheen says: “It’s a sad day for healthcare in Australia when the elected representatives of the people have been forced to step in and do the job that the regulator has consistently failed to do.”
“This is long awaited common sense. Cosmetic surgery should not have any lesser standards than all other forms of surgery, where lives can just as easily become permanently changed by a procedure. Beyond the avoidable human tragedy, the use of Medicare and taxpayer funds in rectifying these substantial injuries continue to place a strain on healthcare resources.“
“It is critical that this change does not fall down at the regulatory stage, and that AHPRA does not seek to undermine the standards that the National Health Council wants upheld. Even though the health ministers are restricting the use of the title surgeon, we may still end up with AHPRA-endorsed practitioners who do not have surgical training but are performing cosmetic surgery under another manufactured title. And the regulation of practitioners still falls to AHPRA, who would need to enforce these changes. And they have lost all credibility in their ability to do this.” Dr Sheen added.
Dr Sheen stated in addition that Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has made it very clear that only those practitioners who have undertaken a rigorous AMC-accredited surgical training program can call themselves cosmetic surgeons.
“We are very pleased to know that the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare will be setting dedicated safety and hygiene standards for cosmetic surgery practices and will limit surgery to properly accredited facilities. This is urgent and will hopefully only be the start of measures that address the serious risk to patients posed by dangerous cosmetic cowboys performing invasive cosmetic surgery in inadequately equipped private surgical facilities across Australia. These day surgeries are a haven for unsafe practices, insufficient infection control and reckless (and often non-existent) patient aftercare.”
The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is Australia’s expert and independent authority on medical training, and it has already comprehensively assessed and accredited the RACS to teach cosmetic surgery within the plastic surgery curriculum. Alternate organisations in Australia have been assessed and found seriously deficient. Yet, AHPRA is disregarding and undermining this with its proposed endorsement scheme which would include grandfathering of cosmetic cowboys.
Dr Sheen: “I hope this brings some comfort to the huge numbers of patients who have suffered the most devastatingly appalling life altering damage at the hands of cosmetic surgeons. Especially as the victims have not received even the most basic apology or acknowledgement from either the rogue practitioners who have perpetrated the damage, or from the now discredited regulator that has tolerated this sorry state of affairs for so many years.”
The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine (ACCSM, the College) welcomes the findings of the independent review into the cosmetic surgery industry in Australia.
“The College has been fighting for 20 years to introduce real reform that will protect patients by ensuring doctors performing cosmetic surgery are properly trained and qualified and we are now seeing them,” the ACCSM President, Dr Anoop Rastogi, said, adding that “any doctor, or organisation, that is serious about protecting patients will support these reforms.”
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