PLASTIC AND COSMETIC SURGERY CLAIMS

Private plastic and cosmetic surgery has historically been inadequately regulated in regard to surgeon's specialist qualifications and experience. Many private clinics employ doctors who have dropped out of specialist training and advertise as being ‘Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons’ but this is no guarantee that they have any specialist training. Doctors from any medical speciality can perform surgery however the purpose of the 'The Care Standards Act' is to improve the regulation of healthcare providers. The Act, which came into force on the 1st of April 2002, will mean that clinics and surgeons in private practice will now be regulated by law.

Until now there has been no guarantee that a private surgeon had any specialist training or any surgical qualifications at all and many patients have based their choice of surgeon or clinic on the quality of their adverts. The training and qualification requirement applies only to doctors registering after 1st April 2002, and therefore allows a medical practitioner who was in practice prior to that date to continue without either being assessed or showing any evidence of having received any formally recognised specialist surgical training.

The Care Standards Act introduces the following minimum standards:

• The National Care Standards Commission, an independent public body set up under the Act, will regulate private clinics and ensure that national minimum standards are met.
• All practitioners must be ‘appropriately recruited, trained and qualified.’
• Patients must be offered counselling and a two week cooling off period before treatment.
• All private hospitals and clinics must have a formal complaints procedure.

The most common claims following cosmetic surgery include:

• lack of proper informed consent including lack of a full explanation of all risks and alternatives
• unexpected obtrusive scarring following a face lift
• less than satisfactory results for dermabrasion, chemical peels and laser surgery particularly to face
• injury to the accessory nerve following a face lift
• poor outcomes from rhinoplasty
• breast uplift resulting in excessive or unexpected scarring
• breast reduction resulting in uneveness or unexpected and unsightly scarring
• liposuction resulting in perforation to the bowel or damage to other parts of the body
• liposuction procedures resulting in unacceptable scarring

We are a network of highly qualified experienced specialist solicitors who are members of the Law Society Panel of medical negligence experts. Less than 1% of solicitors are entitled to apply for public funding on behalf of their clients for medical negligence claims. Not all applicants will qualify for legal aid however your solicitor may deal with your claim on a no win no fee basis. If you would like free advice and information from a specialist solicitor then just complete the contact form and a member of The Law Society panel of medical negligence experts will contact you by telephone.