Who Am I?
Let me start by introducing myself; I’m Dr Chris Hope, CQC manager for Cosmetic Perfection. My background is in scientific research, specifically oral microbiology. I’ve published over 30 research articles, edited scientific journals, refereed hundreds of manuscripts and supervised numerous undergraduate and PhD students. Throughout my career I’ve studied in, worked in, and been responsible for microbiology laboratories for almost 30 years. As you would expect, a university microbiology laboratory is a highly
regulated environment in which health and safety are paramount. It is this experience I bring to Cosmetic Perfection – along with being Dr Emma’s fiancé, business partner, stand-in receptionist, IT whizz, handyman and general dogsbody!
What the CQC Does
The CQC (Care Quality Commission) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. They make sure that these services provide people with safe effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage providers to improve. The CQC’s role is to register health and social care providers following a rigorous inspection process and then continue to monitor, inspect and rate services. The CQC are also able to take independent action to protect people who use such services. CQC registration for our facial aesthetics business means we have been inspected by the Care Quality Commission and found to be a high quality surgery, providing safe and effective treatments in a clean and suitable environment. In addition, all the staff at Cosmetic Perfection have undergone safeguarding checks which are performed at regular intervals. This is to make sure that we are accountable for safety in our working environment.
Regulated Activities
The remit of the CQC involves what are known as ‘regulated activities’ which covers the treatments and care you might expect to receive in ambulances, care homes, hospitals, specialist clinics (such as Cosmetic Perfection) and doctors / dental surgeries. Surprisingly, and somewhat controversially, a wide range of aesthetic procedures are not actually ‘regulated activities’, including injectable treatments such as dermal filler and Botox. Although I have personally never injected dermal filler or Botox and have not had any training in their safe and effective use, there is nothing in law to stop me from doing so right now! This is despite the fact that Botox is a prescribed medicine and dermal fillers can cause serious and immediate complications if incorrectly applied. Notwithstanding her years of experience and training, as a registered dentist, Dr Emma McKay is qualified to safely apply and prescribe Botox and, perhaps more importantly, the emergency medication needed to dissolve dermal fillers.
The lack of regulation and CQC oversight in the medical aesthetics business is clearly a dangerous situation and it is likely that this will change in the future.
The ‘regulated activities’ we carry out at Cosmetic Perfection are:
• Injectable weight-loss treatments; semaglutide (Ozempic® with Wegovy® coming soon)
• Medical Botox; hyperhidrosis (excess sweating), bruxism (tooth grinding) and migraine treatments
• Thread lift treatments (available soon)
CQC Registration
The CQC use five ‘key lines of enquiry’ as sources of evidence to help their inspectors assess care providers:
- Is it safe?
- Is it effective?
- Is it caring?
- Is it responsive?
- Is it well-led?
Our CQC registration means that we were able to provide evidence to answer ‘yes’ to each of these questions. We are in the process of gathering feedback from our clients in the form of a short questionnaire to assess these key-lines of enquiry and will display the results in our reception area – which is in itself a CQC requirement.
Although the majority of our aesthetic treatments are not CQC regulated activities, we are obliged to apply their stringent regulations and principles to all of our treatments, staff, clinical and non-clinical areas. CQC registration means that we are trusted. CQC registration is the highest standard of regulation for facial aesthetics businesses. If you do not choose Cosmetic Perfection for your medical aesthetics, heed my advice and ensure that your provider is CQC registered for your own safety and peace of mind.
You can find out a lot more about the CQC here: www.cqc.org.uk
Dr Chris Hope,
CQC Manager,
Cosmetic Perfection