The Prime Minister has joined our calls for urgent action to end the dangers inherent in an industry where practitioners, using the title ‘cosmetic surgeon,’ perform invasive surgical procedures despite not being registered as specialist surgeons. “I, like other Australians, have had a look at some of those reports, and are very sympathetic with the victims of what clearly is completely unacceptable in terms of the difference of what people expected and what the outcomes were,” he said.
Federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, said: “Australians seeking these treatments should not be misled by medical practitioners, non-specialist surgeons or those without appropriate surgical training,”
This segment was based on the article written by Billie Eder on The Sydney Morning Herald. The full article can be viewed here.
The Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) strongly advises anyone considering undergoing an aesthetic procedure to do in depth research into that procedure, and always seek advice from a registered specialist plastic surgeon ahead of time.
ASAPS is calling for three necessary changes:
1. AHPRA must make it mandatory that all medical practitioners must only use their official AHPRA title, which is an accurate representation of the registration status. There is no public benefit in allowing non-surgeons to use the title surgeon.
2. There is no public benefit in allowing practitioners who are not registered surgical specialists to advertise a regulated health service like surgery – this must be banned with immediate effect.
3. There is no public benefit in allowing doctors who are not registered surgeons to own and operate a licensed facility for cosmetic surgery. Licenses should be revoked with immediate effect. Otherwise it will legitimise and encourage doctors to operate outside the regulatory framework to the detriment of the patients.
The above three recommendations will be a very cost effective deterrent to safeguard patients
The government knows that there are a growing group of practitioners who operate entirely outside the rules based system and the national regulatory framework. This undermines the integrity of the regulatory system and puts patients at risk. If left unchecked, it will continue to undermine patient safety.
Plenty of time and money has been wasted on commissions, inquiries, committees over the last 25 years and the patients are no safer. Action is overdue.
