The Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons has raised serious concerns with the Medical Council, the Commission on Patient Safety and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland about the lack of regulation of cosmetic surgery clinics in the State.
Dr Michael Earley, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Mater and Temple Street hospitals in Dublin and a member of the Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons, said there were few members of his association who had not seen some complications arising out of treatments provided in cosmetic surgery clinics here. "Patients are being put at risk," he said.
A past president of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, Dr Earley confirmed yesterday his association had made a submission in recent weeks to the Medical Council and other bodies on its many concerns about the way cosmetic surgery clinics are operating.
He said the association was concerned the clinics were unregulated from the point of view of advertising "and we feel much of this can be misleading to the public, in particular the use of photographs of people who have certainly no sign of having ever been a patient. In other words, they are the body perfect".
Its submission also stressed the need for those working in the clinics to be properly qualified, and the importance of doctors in the clinics providing continuity of care for patients. In some instances foreign doctors are flying in and out of the country to carry out surgery in these clinics.
Dr Earley said his association believed patients should only be referred to cosmetic surgery clinics by their GP for their own safety.
It has also recommended patients not be operated on for at least two weeks after their first appointment with their surgeon in a cosmetic clinic. He said in some instances in these clinics the first time patients saw their surgeon was on the day of their operation. "We recommend a cooling off period," he said.
Furthermore he said the association's submission said clinics should be open and honest with patients about possible complications. "Patients should be told this isn't quick-fix surgery," he said. And, he said, procedures should only be carried out in appropriate surroundings.
The Royal College of Surgeons is understood to have also expressed concerns to the Medical Council that procedures such as gastric banding (complex anti-obesity surgery) were being carried out by a visiting French surgeon at an Advanced Cosmetic Surgery clinic in Dublin rather than in a major hospital. It also expressed concern about aftercare for these patients.
The surgeon has now been suspended from the Medical Council's register on foot of a High Court order pending a full fitness to practise inquiry.
The managing director of Advanced Cosmetic Surgery, Halina Ashdown Sheils, said she had full confidence in the surgeon's abilities. She herself had a gastric band fitted by the surgeon last April before introducing it at the clinic.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday the Commission on Patient Safety, which is due to report next summer, is looking at the licensing of all healthcare facilities, including cosmetic clinics.
"It's not good enough that there is no accreditation in Ireland of hospital facilities both in the public and private sector and it's a major deficiency as far as patients are concerned and patient safety issues are concerned," she said.
"Obviously I can't talk about any individual case. I would urge patients, however, to be vigilant when they go forward for unnecessary surgery."