Well we had hoped for some decisive measures but we are here again waiting for another year for the Government to act upon the review. Many of the points are long overdue with Botox and Fillers been classified as medicine, something that should have been in-place from the start. The training of cosmetic surgeons is something our sister society UKAAPS have been working on for the past 2 years and the training and qualification this market needs has already been created. We hope that the Government will listen to this and make the Mch in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery a standard that we can be proud of for all practising surgeons in the UK. We have Global support from ISAPS and should make sure that all foreign surgeons working in the UK should be forced to have a UK recognised qualification.

The tightening of advertising in the Industry is a move that needs to be implemented with time restricted promotions been around for the past 2 years making patients pay now for surgery before even having a consultation. This review will result in the groups been effected more than UK plastic surgeons who will continue with business as usual.

The long awaited Sir Bruce Keogh report on Cosmetic Surgery will be announced on Wednesday this week. We hope to see some bold announcements that will be implemented immediately, with skills of the surgeons at the top of the list. The training course for Plastic Surgeons within Cosmetic Surgery degree that was created by UKAAPS and Anglia Ruskin University received a big stamp of approval through the endorsement and accreditation from ISAPS the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery who are the global governing body for Plastic Surgeons working within cosmetic surgery having 2500+ members within 92 countries. We hope some support will be given to a standard for surgeons performing cosmetic surgery, especially with foreign surgeons all too easily coming into the UK with little training or experience been snapped up on the cheap by the bigger cosmetic surgery groups. keep your eye out, we will be bringing you the results of the review and looking at how this will effect the public and industry as a whole.

Well this has not come as a shock with the way this company dealt with the PIP implants scandal. They were the biggest user of the implants and never came out with an offer for patients to have removal. So now with the threat of £millions of compensation from 1700 women they have gone into voluntary administration and set up again under a new company to avoid claims. Yet they can still trade as Harley Medical Group without even a blip because they have bust the holding company harley medical centre and set up a new company Aesthetic & Cosmetic Surgery Ltd and transfered Harley Medical Group into this holding company. This is the same as Surgicare last year when Hospital Group bought them out of administration without even a phone line going down, well sales lines anyway.

The government and Lord Howe are looking into the Harley Medical administration with the CQC and GMC to see if they can stop this happening, surely the CQC can stop this as they are clearly unfit to hold a license to practise when they have total disregard for their patients aftercare. This is happening too often with companies diving for cover under the voluntary administration blanket, how can this be just. I hope every woman looking to have surgery now will boycott this company in the future and I believe there needs to be a stand from the industry to make sure this happens.

This week it was the ISAPS (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) congress in Geneva. There were around 1400 plastic surgeons from over 40 countries all there to learn from each other and share new techniques. There were so many amazing surgeons with techniques that delivered better results based on 000's of procedures. This is why you should always look for a society member first, the non qualified surgeons would never attend or be able to attend these events so never progress with the latest in techniques and safety.

The course launching in October at Anglia Ruskin University for qualified Plastic Surgeons to show their commitment to training and transparency by working toward an MSc in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery would be good for patient safety said 73.6% of people polled on this website. The problem patients face is how can you be sure a surgeon is good at his job or even qualified to perform your procedure. The introduction of a degree in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery would help the public find surgeons who had achieved this hands on cosmetic surgery degree that requires the plastic surgeon to perform a number of procedures that includes 14 competences. It is clear this would be good for patient safety and transparency within our industry which is something that we need to support at a time like this following the PIP fiasco.

I recently read a number of forum posts from women who were complaining about a certain surgeon who's name I will not disclose for now, however this is not an isolated case of public confusion. The surgeon in question has many letters after his name as follows:

MB, BS, LRCP, MRCS, FRCS(Eng), FRCS(Ed), FWACS, FICS, CST (Plastic Surgery)

Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon

With statements within his profile that quote:

he became the first BAAPS (now BAPRAS) fellow at the Wellington Hospital in London

I am sure that the public would look at this and see FRCS(Eng) and BAAPS and BAPRAS thinking that he must be a BAPRAS member surgeon who is GMC specialist registered. But you would be wrong. Firstly GMC specialist registered surgeons are FRCS(Plast). In short this surgeon is not GMC registered and has a foreign qualification, BAPRAS set up BAAPS as a spin off society to deal with Aesthetic Plastic Surgery so BAAPS has not become BAPRAS and a BAPRAS fellow is not registered only a fellow of BAPRAS meaning a foreign surgeon gaining experience in the UK.

The women who were discussing this surgeon had all been butchered by this surgeon and treated with total disrespect when they confronted him. His website like many after the PIP fiasco has disappeared and the public are once again conned into thinking they are paying for a qualified plastic surgeon.

This will have to change and a register for breast implants is the start of what is happening, the next needs to be a joined effort from the societies in the UK to create a central register of qualified plastic surgeons then to accept that cosmetic surgery should be seen as a specialty and as such all surgeons would need to achieve a cosmetic surgery qualification so that the public confusion is removed once and for all.

It is disgusting that foreign surgeons are allowed to enter the UK and butcher our patients then fly away and leave the problems to the NHS and qualified UK plastic surgeons. Sir Bruce Keogh is asking the public to comment on what they think needs to be done within the cosmetic surgery industry to make things better. If you have to ask the public this question maybe this is not the best man for the job and why would his board incorporating a women's magazine editor be the best people to decide how to clean up the industry.

The UK's best plastic surgeons dominated the global market for 50 years with no major problem until the dawn of the Internet that has brought about the creation of the groups who dominate online and employ foreign surgeons and buy the cheapest implants, the answer I am sure Sir Bruce is available from the men and women who travel to conferences to learn more about their trade and who take the responsibility of consulting patients very seriously resulting in many patients been turned away. There is no need for psychologists if the surgeons are properly trained to see the signs of problems within the consultation which is why we have them. Unfortunately the groups use patient coordinators or saleswomen who are paid commission to sign the patient up on the day. So if you want to see where the problem is and where the solution to the problem is, why not look at the groups processes then look at a quality surgeon and you will have the answer to both your questions.

Finally we receive confirmation that the PIP implants were sub-standard, I think we all knew that years ago and with prices at £50 instead of £300 it comes as not surprise to anyone who bought them that they were gambling with patients lives. This news has opened the way for patients to now take legal action against their suppliers meaning the insurance industry will probably pick up the tab.

Free replacements should now be the order of the day from all surgeons and clinics who used these sub-standard implants and any short term profit that they may have made from buying cheap implants will now cost them many more thousands if not millions ion the long run. Take away the ethical aspect of buying sub-standard implants the business argument for buying these implants was clearly flawed.

I find the information about other reported symptoms to be sweeping the obvious linked side effects under the table. We have over 500 women registered on the BIA with PIP implants most of which have reported the same problems and side effects from leaking implants, this is not a coincidence and it amazes the BIA and UKAAPS that we have not been asked or consulted to provide evidence when we have such valuable data that has been offered on numerous occasions to various authorities.

We will have to wait until next March when Sir Bruce Keogh will announce what the government need to do to clean up this industry, it is also time for the industry to take a look at what is happening and to make sure that the UK groups comply with what the vast majority of UK plastic surgeons are doing to protect their patients. The biggest groups are the biggest users of these implants and were slow to take responsibility for their mistakes and responsibilities. The UK patients are now more aware of the groups failings and as such are taking more time to research the best company or surgeons to choose, which cannot be a bad thing.

We have been working hard to find the best surgeons and facilities who have the capacity to help out and provide a special price for BIA registered users who want to have their PIP implants replaced. The first point of call for all women is to go to your surgeon or company first and ask for a preferential price, however as many women refuse to deal with the groups and surgeons who caused this mess, we hope that the special prices are going to help. We have a number of surgeons with spaces in lists and hospitals agreeing to provide special prices for our members. So we have a replacement price of £3250 in Essex at the Ramsay hospital in Springfield a private hospital with a good reputation for quality surgeons and after-care. We also have a number of surgeons around the UK including Birmingham and Manchester who have also agreed to provide the same price of £3250. We have had a price from Harley street plastic surgery for London, Essex and Manchester for £3800 including their premium silimed implants and also including histology costs usually around £300. Anyone having replacements with capsulectomy where the implant casing will also be removed will need to have a histology report. If you would like more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for further details.

The UKAAPS / Anglia Ruskin University degree has been launched and September will see the first intake of Plastic Surgeons. The course is available to fully qualified plastic surgeons to train under a senior surgeon in 14 competences and is a pass or fail exam at the end. This should help raise confidence from the public in the qualification of their surgeon.

Currently, all UK-qualified plastic surgeons are trained by the Royal College of Surgeons to a level appropriate to the type of work carried out on the NHS, but this does not include cosmetic surgery which is privately funded. We have seen over the past years the number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed on the NHS drop dramatically, so the future surgeons will have much less hands on experience needed to be confident when performing complex cosmetic surgery procedures.

Currently BAAPS recommend that the public look for one of their members when choosing a surgeon, yet there are no differentiations between the membership which is made up of surgeons from all sectors, UKAAPS believe that only Plastic Surgeons should perform cosmetic surgery, BAAPS members include ENT (ear nose & throat surgeons) as an example of a member that would not be right for say a tummy tuck.

By making this training course compulsory the government would stop foreign surgeons coming into the UK which would increase patient safety. It would also protect the knowledge of the senior lecturers working with the course from disappearing when they retire.

We have placed a poll on the left side of the website, please tick the box that represents your thoughts of whether you think the course is a good thing for you the public.

This is a post on the forum that I felt is one of the things that is really relevant when you choose your surgeon or clinic with companies like Linia, surgicare now owned by The Hospital Group and Rubicon medical who went into voluntarily liquidation back in December 2011 when the PIP implant fiasco hit the media. Please comment at the bottom of this post if you would like to contact or add your support to the post.

I had augmentation surgery in 2003 with Linia. My implants have ruptured and Linia’s unwillingness to communicate with me shows how careless and ignorant they are concerning the suffering of their patients, once they have got your money you are on your own. You will find that the director of the company Mr Azhar Aslam enjoys positive media coverage to promote his rogue company whose name has changed numerous times, can this be legal? If you had similar experience with Linia I’m urging you to fight for your rights. Please join me in writing to Watchdog, Rip off Britain, Don’t get done get Dom and the Daily Mail. I promise you if we work as a team we will succeed.
The reason Mr Aslam is getting away  with this is that not just the company name change but also his name, have a look at this:

Here are some of his company names:

Contour Cosmetic Group – This is in 2003 when I had my operation
MED BELLA LINIA U.K. LIMITED – Changed 29 Jul 05
LINIA HEALTHCARE LTD – Changed 18 Dec 09

There are over 50,000 women in the UK who have had PIP implants, with replacement fees been promoted from £3500 to £6500 the value of the replacement market is over £200,000,000. With such a large market value the sharks have appeared looking for a quick buck says Mike Mazza President of the BIA. I am sickened to see so many companies trying to make a profit from women who are in distress due to the lack of clear information from the government and regulatory authorities and the groups who tried to pass the blame then realised that they needed to do something to protect their future business. There have been celebrities starting PIP support groups with law firms, you have to question how much commission are they receiving! then there are foundations, implant registers and masses of editorial and media coverage seen as good PR for a select number of PR savvy surgeons.

The focus needs to be on women getting these implants out as soon as possible before they rupture and leak non-medical garage silicon into patients bodies. The other thing that needs to happen is to have full disclosure of implant failure rates so that women can make an informed choice rather than been pushed into the implant that the company uses.

The BIA is a division of the UK Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (UKAAPS) and as such is a not for profit organisation, so our aim and focus is to help women. Our implant scientific meeting was held last year 2011 in September and planned for over a year, long before the PIP scandal was realised. The industry including MHRA and BAAPS never attended or promoted the meeting, then when the media circus started everyone came forward as the white knight BAAPS included with confusing information and changing their advise from not to worry to that of UKAAPS back in September 2011 of get all of these implants out.

It is time for the industry to clean itself up and the UKAAPS / Anglia Ruskin University MSc qualification for plastic surgeons working within cosmetic surgery is a good starting point if patients are to receive clarity as to the qualification of the surgeon to perform the procedure that the patient seeks.

The BIA register has proven that a national register for breast implants is needed with the same complications been reported time and time again. The register would have confirmed the problem with the PIP implants very early, and in the future will also confirm the surgeons who's patients are also having too many problems raising the alarm for training of the surgeon.

We would advise all women to question any company, foundation or website as to their intentions if they are a commercial entity. I am dismayed with companies like The Good Surgeon Guide launching a breast implant register when they are aware of the BIA register. These companies charge advertising for all surgeons to be listed and as such cannot be truly independent, making any register a PR stunt and not something aimed at helping women or they would just add support along with the rest of the industry to the BIA register.

For all of those women who have now registered with the BIA to receive special prices for PIP implant removal, I am pleased to announce that we now have sufficient ladies to speak with the hospitals and surgeons. Over the past months it has become clear that the groups who have dominated the UK market, are the cause of this whole mess and the surgeons who used to lead the market through referral before the Internet became the main source of research and dominated by groups are the people left cleaning their reputation as a plastic surgeon and industry by offering a massive reduction off their prices for patients.

Keep a look out and we will email everyone registered with details about the surgeons, and prices. Thank you for your patience.

Silimed the Brazilian manufacturer of breast implants received FDA approval on Friday, this makes them one of only 3 companies with FDA approval been Mentor, Allergan and Silimed and making Silimed the only company to have shaped implants approved.

This is good news for patients as the FDA have much tighter regulations than in Europe and we need to see choice for patients.

This is one of the best researched PIP implants programmes, click here our President Professor James Frame is featured and a contributor to the show confirming what we have always said which is to remove these implants. We are in the process of having a report presented to the Government from the data collected on the BIA register, the finding will be published and confirms that all of our members have the same problems and very high complication rates with PIP implants, something that we hope will make everyone stop with the ostrich approach to this fiasco.

We have sent a request to all UKAAPS members to ask if surgeons would be prepared to perform cheaper PIP replacement surgery, the defining answer was yes. Because of the lack of clarity within the market and many companies still not offering price reductions for replacement, we wanted to take the lead and try and provide a service for all of our registered members.

All of UKAAPS members are Plastic Surgeons who specialise in Cosmetic Surgery which is what you should insist on for any replacement as they will have experience in performing this surgery and will be able to deal with any rupture that requires full capsulectomy.

The first step is to see how many women in which areas of the UK would be interested in replacement surgery, then we will speak with the manufacturers, surgeons and theatres etc and get a bulk price to try and make the process as cheap as possible.

If you would be interested in having replacement surgery please register here and we will come back to you within a few weeks when we receive sufficient numbers within an area to provide you with a price.