The AMA and Federal Health and Aged Care Minister, Mark Butler, have welcomed a new national commitment to action on cosmetic surgery.
Australia’s state and territory health ministers met on Friday, September 2nd, to discuss the findings and 16 recommendations made by the Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery.
The 132-page report, released September 1st by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (Ahpra) and the Medical Board of Australia (MBA), was the much-anticipated response to the concerning allegations of malpractice that have plagued the industry in recent years.
In a statement issued at the close of the meeting, the Health Ministers made a commitment to:
- Prevent medical practitioners who are not qualified describing themselves as cosmetic ‘surgeons’
- Ensure that anyone conducting a cosmetic procedure has appropriate qualifications
- Limit surgery to properly accredited facilities with minimum hygiene and safety standards
- Ban doctors from using patient testimonials for cosmetic surgery including on social media
- Implement better information standards for patients on the risks and their rights so they can make an informed decision about any treatment
Work to implement these reforms is set to begin immediately.
Mr Butler hailed the decisive action, stating that now is time to move to ensure that doctors providing cosmetic procedures are appropriately qualified and work to the highest health and safety standards expected in Australia.
“These cosmetic cowboys have been riding unchecked for years, and the previous Government simply didn’t act to clean up an industry that has come to resemble the Wild West,” Mr Butler said.
“Australians deserve to have confidence in the safety and quality of the cosmetic surgery industry and these changes will provide that.”
The AMA said that such action has been a long time coming, but if implemented urgently will go some way in protecting the public from harm from unscrupulous, unqualified practitioners.
However, AMA President, Professor Steve Robson, also cautioned that while promising, the plan (as presented) is open to interpretation and many details still needed to be finalised in consultation with the profession.
“The AMA is ready to work collaboratively with health regulators to realise the commitments as soon as possible, [however], there are many details in the release that will require further scrutiny,” Professor Robson said.
For example, even though the AMA supports restricting the use of title ‘surgeon’ to the surgical fields of practice approved by the Ministerial Council, additional areas of practice may be added in the future, for example ‘rural generalist surgeon,’ subject to recognition of this field of practice by the Australian Medical Council (AMC).
“We have some concerns about the potential impact of introducing an ‘area of practice’ to general registration and will be discussing this with the Medical Board in the near future,” Professor Robson said.
The state and territory Health Ministers have also tasked the Medical Board of Australia with adding the ‘Area of Practice’ to medical registrations, implementing a crackdown on the use of testimonials and social media, strengthening guidance for doctors in the sector, and establishing a hotline for complaints.
Similarly, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has been given the job of developing specific safety and quality standards for where and how cosmetic surgery can be performed, and both the Commission and the Medical Board have been asked to report back to the Health Ministers within two months.