Healthcare Improvement Scotland issues warning about the dangers of Botox parties
Regulator advises only registered healthcare professionals should provide cosmetic treatments like Botox.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland is warning the public of the dangers of so-called Botox parties.
Botox parties are often organised with unregulated providers such as beauticians. This means important decisions regarding health and wellbeing can be seriously impaired by consumption of alcohol.
As the regulator of independent healthcare in Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland advises that cosmetic treatments such as Botox, dermal fillers and slimming jabs should only be provided by regulated healthcare professionals.
All private clinics, hospitals and hospices where services are provided by healthcare professionals are legally required to be registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
“Bringing together the injecting of Botox, alcohol and a party atmosphere reduces people’s judgement, and their ability to properly provide consent and consider the real risks. No clinic regulated by us, and run by a healthcare professional, would be permitted to run Botox parties as an appropriate environment to provide such a treatment.”
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Eddie Docherty, Director of Quality Assurance and Regulation at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said:
“Having a cosmetic treatment is a serious undertaking that should only be entered into with due consideration of the very real risks to an individual’s health and safety. Bringing together the injecting of Botox, alcohol and a party atmosphere reduces people’s judgement, and their ability to properly provide consent and consider the real risks. No clinic regulated by us, and run by a healthcare professional, would be permitted to run Botox parties as an appropriate environment to provide such a treatment.
“We would urge anyone looking to get cosmetic interventions to think about their health and wellbeing, and put their care into the hands of professionals with years of appropriate training and experience behind them, and where they can trust them to make their wellbeing a priority.
“In addition, if you are receiving Botox from a beautician, then it may be a product that has been imported from overseas and not authorised for use in the UK. Only a trained and experienced healthcare professional should administer Botox, acquired through a registered pharmacist, as they can access it legally, understand the physiology of the face in order to administer it correctly, and have ready access to effective medicines if something goes wrong.”
He added:
“People should always check that a clinic is registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland before undertaking treatments.”
There are over 500 registered and regulated clinics across Scotland, the vast majority providing cosmetic procedures. You an find details of regulated private clinics on our website.
There are currently no regulatory requirements for non-healthcare professionals providing cosmetic treatments. The Scottish Government recently held a consultation on how this part of the industry should be regulated. Find out more about the consultation.