The UK government has launched an eight-week long consultation into cosmetic surgery clinics, with the aim of offering consumers an online rating for each location.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) already offers online ratings for NHS services such as hospitals, walk-in clinics and GP surgeries. These proposed plans will see this extended to 1,000 independent health care providers including up to 100 cosmetic surgery clinics.
Centres will be given one of four possible ratings: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
The development comes after increasing pressure on the cosmetics surgery industry to improve its safety record after the 2012 PIP breast implant scandal.
Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that the move was “an important step forward” in the government’s plan to improve standards in the industry.
Hunt said: “Anyone who chooses to have a cosmetic procedure should have high quality and safe care - and that's why we have a tough regulator in place to help people make an informed decision.”
The plan have also been welcomed by the cosmetic surgery industry. Douglas McGeorge, President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said that the organisation welcomes “as much government scrutiny as is possible” for the industry.
McGeorge also reminded the public that cosmetic surgery clinics are already inspected by the CQC, despite not receiving online ratings.
He added: “We still call for the public to remain extremely vigilant of, and query, their surgeon’s experience and accreditations”.