Meeting of the Parliament 02 October 2024
I congratulate Stuart McMillan on securing this debate and welcome his constituent Jill Best to the public gallery, along with other campaigners who have joined us in Parliament this evening.
In June, I was pleased to host in the Parliament a cross-party round-table meeting that Stuart McMillan and other members attended and at which we were able to discuss the regulation of invasive cosmetic procedures. I thank the minister and her officials for attending, too. At that round-table event, we heard very clearly the very emotional stories of many people across Scotland whose lives have been impacted by these procedures. We heard not just about the impact of the procedures themselves but about the impact on people’s mental health and the other procedures that they now need to undergo regularly.
Gillian Mackay made a really important point about the motivation for having these treatments. I know from speaking to constituents that, often, they become blind to the reality of what they are doing and, in many cases, what they are receiving. The fact that what they are getting might cost less than treatments using the substances that should actually be used is what really motivates them to have such treatments. Moreover, the social media images that they will have seen of the often fantastic results of these procedures by those advertising them makes people feel that there is a safety net and, as members have mentioned, believe that there is regulation in place.
As other members have said, we have seen these procedures grow and get out of control, and I worry about other potential impacts. For example, in the United States, we are seeing the growth of hangover injection therapy, with people receiving intravenous treatments from friends and others, and we really need to get ahead of all this before it becomes a huge public health emergency in Scotland and across the UK.
The previous UK Conservative Government affirmed its commitment to improving safety, and, since the election, I have written to the new health secretary, Wes Streeting MP, to ask about the Labour Government’s plans to take forward those proposals. In that respect, I very much welcome the Scottish Government’s plans for a consultation. As members across the chamber have said, we are at present seeing individuals with minimal training—sometimes it is only a one-day course, or even just an online course—administering prescription medications, including injectable treatments, and often with an insufficient understanding of the complications involved.
Even more concerning, though, is the prevalence of the use of certain black market products, with poisons being injected into people’s bodies. We simply need to see this as a patient safety concern. As we heard from practitioners and patients at the round-table meeting that I held—and, indeed, as we have heard since—this is rapidly becoming a public health emergency. Those people raise those concerns not because they want that business but because they are picking up the pieces from the impacts on those individuals. That needs to be addressed.
One point that has not been raised in today’s debate but that we also need to recognise is the number of people who seek surgical treatments abroad—for example, for tummy tucks or medical dental surgery—which is otherwise known as health tourism. From speaking to NHS professionals, I know that significant numbers of patients for whom such procedures have failed, or who have had complications abroad or when they have got home, now present to the NHS in Scotland.
I ask the minister whether there has been any progress in recording such cases. We do not have the data on how widespread the issue has become or on its negative impacts not only on individuals but on the NHS, which has to pick up the pieces. I hope that the Government will move forward quickly with the consultation and, what is more important, with actions that can be taken before the end of this parliamentary session.
Before closing, I ask the minister whether the Government will look towards some sort of public health advertising campaign on all that has been raised. It is clear that the issue will not be resolved quickly. Action is taking place, but we need to start raising more concern at Government level and across social media about the implications for people, and to try to warn them against using these procedures.
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