Making a safe & informed choice about your aesthetic treatment provider is so important
You might have seen the news that the UK government have announced greater regulation is to come into force for the aesthetic industry? And, of course, it’s great news for qualified and experienced aesthetic practitioners that standards of practice are to be upheld - and even better news that those seeking aesthetic treatments who will be better protected. However, perhaps the bigger, scarier story is that, currently, there is so little regulation in place to protect the public and hold practitioners accountable!
So, how can a responsible aesthetic practitioner demonstrate their safety and high standards of practice in a largely unregulated industry? The answer lies with an organisation called Save Face, whose mission is to connect you - people seeking safe aesthetic treatment - with safe hands.
Save Face Accreditation
Save Face is a national register of Accredited practitioners who provide non-surgical cosmetic treatments (like anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers). The Register is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority and is recognised by the Government, The Department of Health, NHS England and The Care Quality Commission.
Save Face Accreditation entails undergoing assessment against a rigorous set of objective criteria, including the submission of documentary evidence and on-site assessment. The assessment ensures both the clinician and the environment they operate in meet key standards of safe and competent practice to infection control measures, medicines management and ensuring your privacy in terms of confidentiality and data handling.
So what does this mean for you? At the moment, with the current lack of appropriate regulation, prospective patients are vulnerable to rogue practitioners. The Save Face register removes this risk as Accreditation is the gold standard of assurance for patients in choosing where to go and who to trust for their aesthetic treatments.
Amanda at Aluminate Clinic is proud to have voluntarily submitted her practice to the most robust levels of scrutiny and to have achieved Save Face Accreditation with flying colours - and without any recommendations or referrals being made from the assessment process. What’s more, this Accreditation sets Aluminate Clinic apart from the vast majority of clinics in the surrounding area.
Medical training & standards of practice
As a nurse, Amanda is also registered with the UK nursing regulatory body - the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) - and adheres to a strict code of professional practice. In fact, Amanda is not only nurse-trained but is a Nurse Prescriber having undergone additional training in order to prescribe medications independently.
Being a nurse means that everyone who visits Aluminate Clinic is a patient, not a client. And Amanda has a duty of care to each and every patient she treats, which means she has a legal responsibility to maintain your health, safety and well-being which sometimes, surprisingly to some people includes say no to certain treatments that she may feel are not appropriate for your concerns or in your best interests. This duty of care is at the heart of everything she does.
For nurses registered with the NMC, should concerns arise, these will be thoroughly investigated and conditions can be placed on their practice if they are deemed necessary. Incredibly, for non-medical aesthetic practitioners, as there is no such regulatory body, concerns about their practice cannot be readily investigated or acted upon which can leave patients vulnerable and without any course for redress if things should go wrong. We can only hope that greater UK regulation will close this unsafe loophole.
Safety in numbers
Another hallmark of a safe practitioner committed to continued professional development is membership of professional groups and organisations and being part of a network of peers.
Amanda is a member of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN), the largest professional association for aesthetic nurses in the UK and she is also a member of the Aesthetics Academy based at Cheshire International School of Cosmetology (CISC) as well as the Aesthetic Complications Expert (ACE) world group.
These voluntary professional memberships provide access to ongoing training, mentoring and supervision and peer support from fellow aesthetic practitioners. As such, Amanda is always up to date with advances in treatment and her practice receives oversight from other experienced professionals in the industry.
It’s safe to talk complications
Experienced, confident and competent practitioners don’t shy away from acknowledging the possibility for complications to arise from a treatment procedure or from educating their patients about these risks: not talking about complications with patients is a risk in itself!
Being a member of the Aesthetic Complication Expert (ACE) group which provides access to a wide range of evidenced based, extensively researched guidance on how to safely and effectively manage complications if and when they arise and well as access to a range of patient education material which explain procedures in detail including all the risks so, patients can be assured they are making an informed choice about their planned treatment.
Knowledge is power
Of course, we hope that all of this information provides the reassurances you need to choose treatment with Amanda at Aluminate Clinic. But, most importantly, we hope that we’ve equipped you with the knowledge to make a safe choice whoever you decide to undergo treatment with.
And whilst further regulation is in the pipeline, its not here yet so, please put your own safety first.
Amanda
Registered Nurse Prescriber
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