Committee publication · Correspondence · 8 July 2026
Correspondence from Minister for Health and Secondary Care, re. Follow-up from the science and regulation of hair and beauty products and treatments oral evidence session, 1 July
From: Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Inquiry: The science and regulation of hair and beauty products and treatments
Summary
Minister Karin Smyth provides written follow-up to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee's 3 June oral evidence session on cosmetic regulation. She addresses data gaps on NHS costs from botched procedures (currently poor), medical tourism aftercare costs (£6,000–£24,000 per patient from small studies), gender-specific research commitments through the Renewed Women's Health Strategy, professional training standards under a proposed amber/green licensing regime, and the existing patchwork of local cosmetic licensing under London and regional private acts, which the government plans to replace with a national scheme.
Key findings
- NHS currently lacks reliable data on costs of treating botched cosmetic procedures due to inadequate Hospital Episode Statistics coding; the health service absorbs costs when complications arise.
- Medical tourism aftercare costs range £6,000–£24,000 per patient according to small-scale UK studies, but government holds no data on proportion requiring corrective surgery or total NHS cost.
- Renewed Women's Health Strategy (April 2026) commits to gender-specific research via NIHR funding and improved patient participation in clinical trials through NHS App integration.
- Professional training standards for the proposed amber/green cosmetic licensing regime will be developed with healthcare regulators, practitioner associations, local authorities, and devolved governments.
- Current patchwork of local licensing in London (under 1991 Act), Nottinghamshire, Essex, and Birmingham will be replaced by a national licensing scheme funded initially from Spending Review settlement, then self-funded via licensing fees.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Karin Smyth, Dame Chi, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Business and Trade, Office for Product Safety and Standards, National Institute for Health and Care Research, London local authorities
Notable line
“… the NHS is absorbing the cost when things go wrong and follow up treatment is required.”
Key Quotes
“We are currently reliant on the NHS' existing 'Hospital Episode Statistics' coding system which does not provide a way to objectively confirm if a person's presenting condition has arisen as a result of a cosmetic procedure.”
“… the NHS is absorbing the cost when things go wrong and follow up treatment is required.”
“UK based studies investigating the cost of providing aftercare for cosmetic tourism ranged from £6,000 - £24,000 per patient. However, the results are not necessarily representative as they are all small scale studies (typically involving less than 30 patients) and tend to be at a single hospital/Trust.”
“A national licensing scheme will deliver consistent standards of practice by ensuring that those who offer specified procedures: • are suitably knowledgeable …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗