West Lothian councillors back more controls on 'risky' cosmetic treatments

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Greater controls over the growing trade in high-street cosmetic treatments would be welcomed, West Lothian councillors have agreed, as they raised concerns about how any such rules could be enforced.Cosmetic treatments such as botox- including at-home botox parties- and dermal fillers have grown in recent years, but there are concerns that some treatments can be carried out by anyone without proper training.Responding to a Scottish government consultation on extending licensing, Environmental Health officers told West Lothian councillors that it’s difficult to police what are “elective and voluntary procedures.”Additional environmental health and licensing duties will also put pressure on a council department struggling with its current workload.In a report to the Executive this week Craig Smith, the council’s Environmental and Trading Standards Manager said: “Whilst the risks of harm to people choosing to undergo procedures is real and recognised, it is also recognised that many, if not most, procedures are elective and voluntary on the part of the client.“So, it is difficult to fully support the introduction of these controls, knowing that in many cases clients are putting themselves at risk out of choice, when local authorities do not have adequate resources to protect wider public health and safety in other higher priority areas of work.”Currently some procedures are licensed under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 These include skin piercing, tattooing and micro-blading- the procedure which creates semi-permanent eyebrows by colouring fine cuts in the skin.However, there are an ever increasing number of treatments- known as non-surgical cosmetic procedures (NSCP)- which fall out with the scope of the current