‘Trust Your Treatment’ - Safer standards in cosmetic surgery and non-surgical procedures

We are campaigning to close the regulatory gap in cosmetic surgery and non-surgical procedures to protect patients and ensure only qualified surgeons perform high-risk operations.

We aim to:

• secure comprehensive regulation for surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures;
• continue to ensure RCS England as the leading voice on surgical safety and standards;
• promote the Cosmetic Surgery Board Certification Scheme as the benchmark for surgical standards.

What we're doing

• Securing government support to limit cosmetic surgery to trained surgeons only.
• Advocating for Board Certification as the minimum standard for surgeons carrying out cosmetic surgery.
• Advocating for the licensing of non-surgical procedures under the Health and Care Act 2022.
• Engaging with DHSC Expert Group to define high-risk procedures and ensure they are restricted to certified surgeons.
• Partnering with media campaigns (e.g., Mirror’s “Ban Cosmetic Cowboys”) to raise public awareness.
• Providing evidence to parliamentary committees and participating in debates to push for legislative change.

Get involved

• Share patient case studies with our press team to highlight risks and the need for regulation.
• Support our campaign by amplifying messages on social media and in professional networks.
• Encourage colleagues to adopt and promote Board Certification standards.
• Contact the Campaigns Team for more information at publicaffairs@rcseng.ac.uk.

Background

The issue

At present, any doctor on the medical register can legally perform cosmetic surgery in the private sector, regardless of whether they are a trained surgeon or listed on the GMC’s specialist register. This allows complex, invasive procedures to be carried out by individuals without formal surgical training. While surgical royal colleges maintain that such work should be limited to appropriately qualified specialists, regulation does not enforce this, and inspections by the CQC do not routinely assess practitioners’ qualifications—creating clear risks to patient safety.

Efforts to strengthen regulation, including the 2013 Keogh Review, have long highlighted the need for skilled practitioners, safer care, better-informed patients, and accessible redress. Although some progress has been made—particularly through new powers to regulate non-surgical procedures—a significant gap remains for cosmetic surgery. Legislative opportunities to restrict practice to specialist surgeons have not been fully implemented, leaving patients exposed to potentially life‑changing or life‑threatening harm. 

Outputs

• Cosmetic surgery professional guidance
• Cosmetic surgery certification scheme
• Certified surgeons’ register
• Cosmetic surgery patient information