In January 2023, it has been confirmed that the UK government will go ahead with their commitment on licensing the non-surgical aesthetics sector in England.

This has come as a massive breakthrough for the industry and those who have campaigned to have such licensing in place.

Detailed in a press release by the JCCP (Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners) they explain, “The JCCP, British Beauty Council, and the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH) have received assurance from the UK Government that it’s committed to the licensing of the non-surgical aesthetics sector in England. After submitting a joint letter on behalf of the aesthetics industry to the Department of Health and Social Care, the industry bodies received a response outlining how the department is designing and implementing a new system of licensing for the non-surgical cosmetic industry. This comes after the Government made its initial commitment in March 2022 to bring forward future regulation to protect patient safety by making it an offence for someone to perform these cosmetic procedures without a licence.”

In response to their letter, Maria Caulifield, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy, stated “departmental officials will work as quickly as possible to introduce the licensing scheme and will consider all the important areas.”

Seen as an aftermath from ITV’s expose on the industry and its challenges in regulation aired in January 2023.

Key Priorities Set for Licensing Aesthetics Industry

There have been some key priorities set for the Government to action as it approaches the licensing of the aesthetics industry, these are as follows:

1. The design and implementation of a national licensing scheme for all premises where licenced procedures are conducted as well as practitioners of non-surgical cosmetic procedures to ensure that all those who practise invasive procedures are competent and safe for members of the public (as proposed in Paragraph/Clause 180 of the Health and Care Act, 2022).
2. A requirement for all practitioners to hold adequate medical insurance in order to provide non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
3. The development of official guidance on the training and qualification expectations for all practitioners, including knowledge and application of infection controls and first aid training.
4. The development of a system for the effective recording of adverse incidents and public awareness raising to ensure that all cases that go wrong can be tracked and improvements to safety made as a result. Members of the public need better tools and knowledge in order to protect themselves.

Agreeing on these terms, Maria Caulifield also commented “We know this is a fast-moving sector, and officials will consider how best to future-proof the regulations so that new and emerging treatments are captured by the scheme.”

We await to hear the outlined timetable from the UK government for the implementation of the new licensing scheme, this is anticipated within the next few weeks.

Cosmetic Courses Values 

Since we set out training in 2002, we have only trained medical professionals in injectables and have stuck by this through our 21 years of training since. Led by Consultant Plastic Surgeon Mr Adrian Richards, our faculty and support teams are passionate about safety within aesthetics, and we do our utmost to ensure we produce confident and safe injectors.

Both Mr Richards and our Managing Director Jim Savin are vocal members on the JCCP board in advocating for a safer, regulated future in aesthetics.

Our Level 7 Diploma was created inline with the JCCP guidelines and has three pathways to complete, those who have succesfully undergone Level 7 training will be added to the JCCP register, confirming their high standard of learning and regulation.

If you would like to find out more about our training courses and our Level 7 Diploma please contact us on 01844 390110 / [email protected].

You can find the latest updates in the Government Guidelines Knowledge Hub.

The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners otherwise known as the JCCP, are a ‘not for profit’ organisation that was made to bring ‘self-regulation’ to the non-surgical aesthetic sector within the UK. Due to the significant rise in the number and type of non-surgical aesthetic procedures performed in the UK, the JCCP are the body ensuring quality and safety within the aesthetics industry.

The JCCP have released three new documents providing updated guidance surrounding the following areas:

Premises Standards

Good Practice Guide for Education and Training Courses

Simplified application form for Training and Education providers who wish to be approved by the JCCP.

Updated Premises Standards

The JCCP has worked with multiple stakeholders to update and revise the previous JCCP Premises Standards in preparation for the proposed licencing scheme for non-surgical cosmetics in England. The JCCP has worked alongside key clinicians and members of the JCCP Clinical Advisory Group to produce these guidelines which are also aligned to advice provided by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health. The new Premises Standards may be viewed at: https://www.jccp.org.uk/Home/AgentResource?id=6&type=3

Education and Training standards

The JCCP continues to campaign for the implementation of a national register of approved qualifications and of approved education and training providers and believes that the PSA (The Professional Standards Authority) should be given extended powers to oversee registers of approved education and training providers and qualifications in the sector in addition to their current statutory function of overseeing practitioner registers. We are also calling upon Ofqual to be requested to ensure they only approve qualifications that meet the new Government standard for education and training for the aesthetics sector.

The JCCP’s Education and Training Committee is aware that there is considerable variation in the approach that the cosmetic industry education and training providers take to promoting courses and the type of courses they offer students. The JCCP has therefore recently produced a ‘good practice’ guide to support education and training providers in the industry and those members of the aesthetic practitioner who seek to further develop their knowledge and skills and competencies.

The JCCP has developed this guide with the full knowledge that the Department of Health and Social Care is yet to determine whether a national mandated standard for education and training should be introduced in England for those practitioners who provide the more invasive nonsurgical cosmetic procedures.

The report on the impact of body image (July, 2021) on mental and physical health recommends that there is a need for a minimum standard to be met in regard to the education and training of practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures. It is essential to ensure patient safety, and thus should be a central pillar of a future licensing regime. This recommendation correlates and affirms recommendations of a similar nature made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing (2021) and also resonates with the principles contained in the Health and Care Act (2022) that relate to the design and implementation of a licensing scheme for the aesthetic sector in England.

This good practice guide in part supports achieving minimum standards in education and training for providers, and furthermore the competence of individuals thereof, and sets out the JCCP’s expectations regarding ethical and accurate advertising of training courses in the sector. The guide also differentiates between pre-qualifying training courses (designed for practitioners to acquire the requisite knowledge and practice competencies to perform non-surgical procedures both safely and effectively) and short courses and CPPD courses.

Application Form for JCCP Approved Education and Training Provider Status.

The final point of the JCCP updated guidance is the JCCP Education and Training Committee have reviewed and revised the JCCP Application Form for Approved Education and Training Providers.

You can find out more information on the following JCCP updated guidance areas and access the links to each document by clicking here.

As a JCCP Approved Education and Training Provider we were featured in the newsletter section around the Fast Track Assessment Centre.

JCCP Fast Track Assessment Centre

In order to ensure that those operating in the industry are more accountable to members of the public with regards their ‘fitness to practice’ the JCCP has agreed that their registered healthcare practitioners should be able to evidence their compliance with the JCCP and CPSA published standards for practice, either by undertaking a JCCP approved qualification or by attending a JCCP approved Fast Track Assessment Centre (FTA).

The JCCP agreed last year that practitioners can apply to register with Learna’s new JCCP Fast Track Assessment (FTA) which has been specifically designed for aesthetic practitioners who are seeking to register with the JCCP. The new fast track assessment centre has been developed by online learning specialists, Learna, in collaboration with the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), and will streamline the qualifications process, enabling more cosmetic practitioners to be eligible to join the JCCP Government PSA approved register. Harley Academy and Cosmetic Courses have also been approved this year to work in association with Learna to offer JCCP Fast Track Assessment Centres. The JCCP Fast Track Assessment Centre offers practitioners an alternative to more costly and time-consuming qualifications and is the only fast track assessment course of its kind on the market that is recognised by the JCCP, resulting in the award of a formally recognised equivalent verification standard that provides unconditional access to Part One of the PSA approved JCCP Practitioner Register. Details of the JCCP/Learna Fast Track Assessment Centre process and application details may be accessed via the following link.

You can find the latest updates in the Government Guidelines Knowledge Hub.

The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners otherwise known as the JCCP, are a ‘not for profit’ organisation that was made to bring ‘self-regulation’ to the non-surgical aesthetic sector within the UK. They are the body that registers practitioners, approved education and training providers with the key remit of ensuring patient safety.

At Cosmetic Courses, we pride ourselves on the standard of the training we deliver and have a passion to make the aesthetics industry a safer place. By raising industry standards, we are helping to shape a safer future within aesthetics. The JCCP has a huge part to play in this with their strong focus on patient safety. They have recently published an important report from the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons. This report was on the Impact of Body Image on Mental and Physical Health. “The JCCP gave written and oral evidence to the Committee in June and called for a range of specific public protection measures to be put in place as soon as possible within the context of the Government’s new proposed licensing system for non-surgical treatments in England.”

The press release published by the JCCP states:

The report advises that ‘The Government must speed up the introduction of a promised licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures to prevent vulnerable people being exploited. The Impact of body image on mental and physical health report identifies a rise in body image dissatisfaction as the driver behind a new market that to date has remained largely unregulated. The dangers posed by non-surgical cosmetic procedures in vulnerable groups were evident throughout the inquiry say MPs’.

The Inquiry Team noted that ‘The Government has new powers to introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures however a consultation on what that regime should look like is still awaited. Legislation should require online commercial content to carry a logo to identify body images that have been digitally altered while the Government is urged to work with the industry and the ASA to discourage advertisers and influencers from doctoring their images’.

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt – The Health and Social Care Committee Chair said,

“The government must act urgently to end the situation where anyone can carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures, regardless of training or qualifications. We heard of some distressing experiences – a conveyor belt approach with procedures carried out with no questions asked, procedures that have gone wrong, the use of filthy premises”.

“It was clear throughout our inquiry that some groups are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in this growing market that has gone largely unregulated. We need a timetable now for a licensing regime with patient safety at its centre to reduce those risks. We hope that ministers will listen to our recommendations and set about creating the safety standards that anyone seeking treatment has a right to expect.”

Prof. David Sines CBE – Chair of the JCCP said,

“We are delighted that the key issues raised in our representation to the Select Committee have been supported by Jeremy Hunt and his colleagues. We very much look forward to continuing our engagement with the Government and health care regulators during the forthcoming months to realise the key objective of embedding patient safety and public protection for members of the public who elect to engage with nonsurgical procedures within the context of national enforceable legislation”

Find out more about the JCCP here.

You can find the latest updates in the Government Guidelines Knowledge Hub.