Health Ombudsman welcomes cosmetic surgery report
Posted: April 25, 2013
Posted in: Medical Negligence Negligent Cosmetic Surgery
The Health Ombudsman, Julie Mellor, has welcomed the publication of the Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions by Sir Bruce Keogh, Health Service Medical Director.
The report, published earlier this week, was commissioned in the aftermath of the PiP breast implant scandal, which revealed that there were problems with some aspects of the cosmetic surgery sector, including record keeping, product quality and after care – all of which being types of clinical negligence.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including a call for an ombudsman for private health care to be appointed.
“Private healthcare, including cosmetic interventions, can have a major impact on people’s lives when things go wrong. There are Ombudsman services covering financial services and legal services, but patients have no access to an independent and impartial judgement on complaints about private healthcare” said Julie Mellor, Health Service Ombudsman, in response.
“We agree that this gap should be filled and welcome the recommendation that government should consider extending our role,” she said. “As the Ombudsman for NHS funded care in England, it is logical that we could offer the same service to private healthcare customers. As the recommendations in the report are considered, we are keen to work with the Department of Health and others to consider how this service could operate, how it would be appropriately funded and when it could be introduced.”
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