Observations
Timetable for EU aesthetic standard
Public inquiry until 22 May to gather comments from stakeholders in member states
The draft of the European Standard for Aesthetic Surgery Services (CEN TC403), which includes injectables and cosmetic lasers, has been finalised and a public inquiry on the text will be open to 22 May 2012. During this time, national members of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) will collect comments from stakeholders.
In the UK, CEN member British Standards Institute uses a website to collect comments on the document (www.bsigroup.com/en/Standards-and-Publications/Current-work/DPCs/). Comments are sent to the committee to prepare the final text of the standard.
CEN expects the standard to be published by the end of 2013. CEN began work on devising a European standard last year after accepting a proposal from the Austrian Standards InstituteLansdc(ASI) to create a project committee (CEN/TC 403) for aesthetic surgery services.
EU member states differ on which professionals are allowed to perform aesthetic procedures. The draft standard refers to a practitioner as a medical doctor.
Despite a BSI request to postpone the standard’s timetable, owing to the omission of registered nurses and dentists, the go-ahead was given because of CEN guidelines on time limitations. There is a committee of dentistry in CEN, and the General Dental Council and the British Dental Association will meet for discussions in January.
Sally Taber, director of Independent Healthcare Advisory Services, whose members include aesthetic medicine practitioners from a range of backgrounds, said: “The lack of recognition of registered nurses is disappointing. We will urge the CEN committee to reconsider the inclusion of registered nurses when they can show that they had undertaken training formally accredited by their national regulatory authority.”
The European Laser Association has stated that lasers should be operated only by medically trained professionals. “This is of extreme concern for the UK in view of the model operated in the UK,” MS Taber said. “CO2 lasers will be referred to as ablative lasers in the standards.”
Accreditation by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) is seen as critical, as it is the independent body responsible for providing training standards for surgeons across Europe.
“CEN standards will include and apply to aesthetic medical doctors once training and accreditation is in place and recognised by UEMS,” according to Ms Taber.
European Standards are voluntary but their impact can be significant and influence the law of member states.
According to CEN, the aesthetic standard “will provide a real added-value for the aesthetic surgery market by helping consumers to make informed choices, by creating an equal level playing field for aesthetic surgery service providers, complementing existing legislation and filling gaps where no regulation or standard exists”.
CEN typically makes standards for products, but it has moved towards services, especially healthcare and social services.
