Written question asked by Tim Yeo (Conservative) on Thursday, 29 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 March 2004. It was answered by Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour) on Monday, 1 March 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to conduct a review of cosmetic surgery practice across England.

Answer: Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to conduct a review of cosmetic surgery practice across England. [152572] Dr. John Reid: Ministers announced in early 2002 that there would be a review of the effectiveness of the national minimum standards for the qualifications of cosmetic surgeons in England who were not on the specialist register of the General Medical Council and had been in practice before 1 April 2002. In July 2003 the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) submitted to the Chief Medical Officer an anonymised report on the inspections of 22 small cosmetic surgery practices in Inner London, and is in the process of preparing a more comprehensive report on all inspections carried out of cosmetic surgery practices in England. On receipt of this report the Department will consider, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, whether the standards are robust enough to ensure the quality of treatment. The London report can be found on the NCSC website at www.carestandards.org.uk.

Secondary information