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If you’ve decided that you’d like to make the leap and open your first aesthetic clinic, the first thing to say is congratulations. We’re excited for you! 🍾
However, we also have to be clear: this journey will need really careful, considered guidance. This is because the UK aesthetics industry is still largely unregulated, with currently no official obligatory licensing system in place.
But if you know the industry, you’ll know that may not always be the case, with recent tragic news stories calling for much more stringent regulation.
This blog covers the licenses you’ll need to open an aesthetic clinic in the UK. If you’re aiming to be a business owner of an aesthetic clinic, it’s a must-read.
Understanding the regulatory landscape
While the UK’s regulations for the aesthetic industry can seem confusing, several governing bodies exist to ensure aesthetic clinics comply with health and safety professional standards. Let’s touch on these to start with:
The Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The CQC is an independent regulator of health and social care in England.
It plays a crucial role in regulating aesthetic clinics, ensuring they provide safe and effective medical treatments while meeting health and safety standards.
The commission conducts regular inspections of aesthetic clinics to evaluate their compliance with established standards and rates them. They provide ratings based on the clinic’s performance, ranging from outstanding to inadequate.
Most importantly, if a clinic fails to adhere to the required standards, the CQC has the authority to take enforcement action, such as issuing warnings, imposing fines, or even closing the clinic if necessary.
💡One thing that’s important to be aware of is that the CQC only regulates licensed medical practitioners who are performing treatments that are considered ‘in scope’ – it doesn’t regulate non-medical practitioners.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) for Scottish clinics
In Scotland, it’s a little different.
It’s a legal requirement for independent clinics (private clinics, including aesthetic clinics) to be registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS).
HIS is a public regulatory body assessing healthcare facilities through inspections. It ensures that all independent clinics meet the required standards of care and identifies the areas for improvement are addressed.
The registration process is similar to registering with CQC. You’ll need to complete the online application form on the HIS website and pay a registration fee.
💡Similarly to CQC, HIS only regulates licensed medical professionals – it doesn’t regulate non-medics performing aesthetic treatments.
The Health and Care Act of 2022
There has been a proposed amendment to the Health and Care Act of 2022, which recommends that only qualified professionals, like doctors and nurses, should be able to administer injectables like Botox and dermal fillers.
Driven by the desire to introduce a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, it proposes a three-tier system to categorize procedures based on their risk and potential complications, amongst other recommendations.
This is expected to become law in the next 2-3 years.
Depending on the risks and potential complications that might appear, the scope of the cosmetic procedure that’s defined in this Act falls under three categories:
🟢 Green:
These are considered the lowest risk treatments which can be administered by all practitioners, and include:
- Micro-needling
- Microdermabrasion
- Mesotherapy
- IPL (intense pulsed light therapy)
- Chemical peels
- Micro-pigmentation (semi-permanent makeup)
🟡Amber:
This includes medium-risk procedures, such as:
- Anti-wrinkle injections
- Vitamin and mineral injection procedure
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
- Weight loss injection
- Semi-permanent dermal fillers
These must be performed by licensed professionals with an accredited qualification and supervised by a qualified regulated healthcare practitioner.
🔴Red:
These are considered the highest-risk procedures, and include:
- Hair restoration surgery
- Thread lifting procedures
- Dermal micro-coring
- Body augmentation, like breast/buttock augmentation using dermal fillers
The recommendation is that these procedures fall under CQC regulation, and only specified healthcare professionals can perform them.
💡The final regulations for non-surgical procedures are expected to be published in 2024/25, with a transitional period before full implementation.
Licensing requirements for aesthetic clinics in the UK
Licensing is a crucial part of setting up your clinic, and there’s more to it than you might think. You’ll need to ensure that both your med spa and your practitioners meet the necessary legal standards.
Clinic registration
The most appropriate type of registration for aesthetic clinics is the Independent Healthcare Service (IHS) registration. On the other hand, CQC offers different types of registration depending on the clinic’s services. Registration with the CQC ensures that clinics meet safety, quality, and care standards.
However, not every clinic needs to register with CQC. As we said earlier, registering is only mandatory if the clinic provides regulated services, such as surgical procedures, injectables like dermal fillers, IV therapy, and laser treatments.
Of course, there’s also the business aspect of registration to consider. Registering your business as a limited company or sole trader, registering for VAT, and so on.
Regulated medical professionals
There are several UK regulators that are responsible for ensuring that only professionals on their registers own the skills, qualifications, and certifications required to function within the scope of their aesthetic practice. For example,
- Medical doctors must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), hold a medical license to practice
- Nurse practitioners with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Pharmacists with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
In addition, there are accredited registers for non-surgical cosmetic procedures that work independently and are not regulated by law – Save Face and the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP).
Currently, they operate a voluntary register for doctors, nurses, dentists, and prescribing pharmacists who provide non-surgical cosmetic aesthetic treatments like facials.
Non-medical aesthetic practitioners
While the law is more lenient for non-medical procedures, it’s crucial to ensure that your staff has the appropriate qualifications to perform them.
The JCCP maintains a register of approved centers for aestheticians without a medical background to perform some aesthetic procedures.
While no legal qualification is required, Level 6-7 diplomas in areas like cosmetic science or injectable therapies are essential. To add to that, JCCP plans to implement the following:
- Cosmetic practitioners must meet statutory regulation standards for legal practice.
- National, mandatory education and training standards for all cosmetic practitioners.
- Only qualified healthcare professionals should perform high-risk procedures (e.g., injectables, fillers, invasive lasers, etc.)
How to register with the CQC
Registering with the CQC might sound intimidating, but it’s an essential step in setting up your aesthetic clinic in England.
Here’s a breakdown of the process:
1. Prepare your application
The CQC registration assessment process is rigorous – that’s why you should put time into preparing your application and the necessary documents.
You need to show them how committed you’ll be as a provider who wants to deliver high-quality, person-centered care with documents that prove your clinic’s safe environment.
Here are what the CQC suggests you collect before registering:
- DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check for your main point of contact, no older than 12 months
- The safety policies for your clinic
- Documents proving your staff is qualified, skilled, and experienced
- Risk assessment policies: for managing the risk of infection and its spreading
- Quality statements to ensure that the medicine and treatments you’ll be using are safe and meet people’s needs
- Ensure your premises are ready for a site visit
- And many more (see full list)
2. Pay the registration fee
Once you register for CQC, you must pay a fee each year.
The fee covers the costs for your initial registration, changes to your registration, and CQC activities with monitoring, inspection, and rating.
3. Await registration approval
Once you submit your application, the CQC starts the validation process.
If there is missing documentation or anything that you’ve submitted is invalid for some reason, it will be rejected. If this happens, you will receive a letter explaining the reasoning why they’ve rejected your application.
If the application is approved, the CQC will get in touch with you to complete a site visit and arrange an interview with you.
4. Prepare for inspection
The CQC will need to inspect your clinic in order to give you a rating.
They’ll look to ensure that you’re following best practices and maintaining high standards of care. This inspection will cover everything from cleanliness to patient record-keeping, so it’s crucial to have everything in tip-top shape.
You can prepare for the inquiries of the CQC inspectors by answering some of these important questions:
- Where are you currently in quality of service delivery, where do you want to be, and what’s your business plan to get there?
- What is your team most proud of about their work at your clinic?
Also, you can use the CQC Key Lines of Enquiry document as a checklist to answer all the big questions, such as: Are your clinic services safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led?
Other legal considerations for the UK
Setting up your clinic doesn’t end with CQC registration. You’ll also need to meet other legal requirements to ensure that you’re fully compliant with UK law.
Health and safety requirements⚠️
The UK health and safety requirements are governed by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA), which encompasses everything from hygiene standards to equipment safety and staff training. Any non-compliance can lead to legal action, fines, or closure by regulatory bodies.
Here are some of the key health and safety protocols and inspections so you know what you need to pay attention to:
- Ensuring a safe, sterile, and hygienic space to prevent infections: The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidelines state that your clinic must have proper hand hygiene protocols and use personal protective equipment during procedures.
- Access, identify, and implement control measures such as protective equipment (gloves, masks) and a plan for proper storage of those substances.
- Use safe disposal containers for sharps to prevent needle-stick injuries: Incidents of this kind must be reported to RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations).
- Regularly inspect your electrical equipment and fire safety: Check your treatment machines to prevent electric shocks or fires, and conduct a fire risk assessment with measures such as fire alarms and fire extinguishers.
Indemnity insurance🏥
Indemnity insurance is crucial to protect your med spa business against claims from medical and cosmetic treatments (even non-invasive ones).
A good example of this would be a dissatisfied patient who claims that the results of a treatment were poor or it was improperly administered.
You need this type of policy because it helps you cover costs for legal advice, settlements, and damages, protecting clinics from potentially crippling financial losses and, let’s not forget, the reputation of your medical spa business.
Data protection requirements 🔒
In the UK, data protection regulations are governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GPPR), which ensures the privacy and security of patient data.
Here is what your medical practice must comply with under GDPR:
- Ensure transparency and accuracy in patient data. In other words, tell clients specifically what you’re using it for i.e. care and appointment scheduling.
- Data must be safeguarded with encryption, access controls, and backup systems, and robust software with excellent security features is essential.
- Explicit patient consent should be obtained and properly documented (on paper or digitally) for use of photos, to send marketing communications, etc.
👉Ensuring that your clinic is compliant with data protection laws is a complex issue that requires a lot of time, attention, and headspace. That’s why, if you want real peace of mind, it’s always better to enlist the experts.
Our partners, Firebird Data Protection Consultancy, are exactly that. Take a look at their website to learn more or check out this blog with Head of Privacy Management at Firebird, Charlotte Staples, for lots of best practice tips.
Opening an aesthetic clinic? Pabau can help
As we’ve covered today, navigating the regulatory minefield for an aesthetic clinic can be pretty tricky. However, there is support and help available.
If you’re looking for a way to streamline your clinic’s management and simplify compliance, Pabau software could be your new best friend.
Pabau is an all-in-one practice management software designed specifically for aesthetic clinics. It helps you manage patient records, take bookings, send out consent forms, and manage the end-to-end patient journey, and more – all while helping you stay compliant with CQC, HIS, and GDPR requirements.
Want to learn how Pabau can do all of that? Book a demo today and get ready to open your aesthetic business with ease, minus the stress.
