Hansard

This debate is an important one, and I thank Stuart McMillan for raising the issue in the chamber.

The current situation with regard to the regulation of the medical aesthetics industry in Scotland is untenable. As of today, there are no laws on who can offer such treatments, yet the number of complaints about botched procedures carried out by people with no medical qualifications or in dangerous environments is rising exponentially.

I, along with others, welcome the recent announcement by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health that the Scottish Government will launch a consultation later this year to explore legislative proposals to regulate the sector, and I welcome, too, its commitment to doing so within the current parliamentary session. However, although I commend the Government for its position, it is vital that the consultation is followed by robust and swift action.

In the debate, and in conversations around this issue, we should ensure that we never shame or blame those who have sought these procedures.

From 17 January to 30 June 2020, the Scottish Government ran a public consultation on the further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures and proposals to introduce a licensing scheme, and I want to take a moment to highlight the results of that consultation. The consultation report revealed almost overwhelming support for change. Most respondents believed that non-surgical cosmetic procedures should be conducted only by trained, qualified and regulated healthcare professionals, and they also stressed that the physical, psychological or financial risks of allowing unqualified individuals to perform these procedures were far too great. In addition to those views from wider members of the public, regulatory bodies and organisations were calling—and, indeed, continue to call—for more oversight through stricter regulation and/or a comprehensive licensing scheme.

The UK Health and Care Act 2022 introduced enabling powers to establish a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic providers in England. When we look at the experience south of the border, we see that only a small number of local authorities in London, Birmingham and Essex operate their own cosmetic licensing schemes, and they vary in the number and types of treatment that they cover. That said, there are things that we can learn from those schemes when we come to design our own.

For a start, the regulations created under these powers include two separate licences; the powers prohibit people in England from carrying out specified cosmetic procedures in the course of business unless they hold a personal licence and from using or allowing the use of premises for the provision of such procedures unless they have a premises licence. The 2022 act also specifies the high-level categories of cosmetic procedure that will be covered by the licensing scheme, and I believe that we should also set basic standards for training and competencies.

The Scottish Government has previously committed to working with other UK nations on developing proposals for Scotland, and I strongly believe that that is the right path to follow if we are to establish a coherent and robust system for the benefit of the people in Scotland as well as learn from the experiences of other jurisdictions.

Several constituents who are worried about the situation have reached out to me—as others have— and have asked for the matter to be taken seriously and for something to be done urgently. I hope that, in shedding light on some of the dangers, today’s debate means that the Government continues to work to introduce regulations and to ensure and improve public safety. The evidence is clear that, without urgent action, we will continue to see unnecessary harm and further strain on our public health system. Our ultimate goal should be to ensure that all non-surgical cosmetic procedures carried out in Scotland are delivered in hygienic premises by appropriately trained practitioners who apply recognised standards and use legitimate products, and it is my belief that that can happen only through robust regulation.