Thousands of people every year go under the knife for various reasons. Their reasons may be personal to them, however one thing is clear. Plastic surgery can be a very personal and intrusive and patients should expect nothing less than the highest standard of care. However, the plastic surgery industry is quite unregulated and mistakes have been known to occur. It is only in recent years that the National Care Standards Commission has introduced regulations. Under this scheme, the clinics and surgeons are under the responsibility to ‘ensure the safety and well-being of individuals having treatment’. Therefore, all the doctors registering after April 1st 2002 cannot perform plastic surgery without first completing specialist surgical training. However, it should be borne in mind that this only applies to doctors registering after this date, not before.

Doctors and other medical practitioners usually provide a high level of service to their patients. Unfortunately, on occasion mistakes do happen and in these situations patients will be quite emotional and upset. The potential risks involved in medical treatment may be forgotten; however the patient will be entitled to an explanation.