JCCP to include therapists in its joint register for aesthetic treatments

The Joint Council of Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) affirmed a position of equality for beauty therapists who do aesthetic treatments in its joint register at the body’s stakeholders meeting in London on September 20.

As the industry moves forward in the development of a self-regulatory model for aesthetic treatments, Professor David Sines, chair of the JCCP, said the modalities “will be inclusive of beauty therapists and clinicians with equality of outcome to meet the requisite standards.”

The JCCP confirmed there will be two registers for practitioners – one for those governed by a body such as the General Medical Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council and a second for those who do not have a governing body, including aesthetic therapists.

Although it hasn’t always been clear whether the beauty sector would be included, the JCCP has confirmed it will acknowledge the many therapists that conduct Level 4 aesthetic treatments such as non-ablative lasers, micro-needling and superficial chemical peels.

However, as yet there is no pathway above Level 5 for beauty therapists. Health Education England’s guidelines (on which the registers are based) state that practitioners should be Level 7 qualified in order to perform injectable treatments.

Talking about the need to develop standards that underpin an evidence base for aesthetic treatments, Sines added: “We are gathering real evidence through the Cosmetic Practice Standards Authority (CPSA) [to] provide a proportionate response to safeguard the public, not a disproportionate or unnecessary response.”

The standards went out for consultation to the stakeholder council on September 25 and are due to be published in December 2017, before the registers for practitioners and training and education providers go live in January 2018.