Doctors and nurses are increasingly training to administer Botox due to the pressures involved in working for the NHS, data suggests.
The Harley Academy in central London – one of the only institutes in the UK that trains medical professionals to provide injectables such as Botox and dermal fillers, as well as cosmetic dermatology – has seen a 24% rise in new recruits every three months.
Doctors put the rise down to discontent in the NHS, as well as a desire for more flexibility and a better work-life balance.
The academy takes on about 500 students a year and only accepts healthcare professionals on to its courses.
The company’s founder, Dr Tristan Mehta, who used to work in an NHS A&E, said he thought the cosmetic industry was becoming more attractive for medics as tighter regulation was due to be introduced.
Last month, the government launched a consultation to explore how non-surgical treatments could be made safer amid concerns about unscrupulous practitioners. The consultation will consider age restrictions on certain procedures, as well as the introduction of a licensing scheme for practitioners and cosmetic businesses operating in England.
Mehta said: “The sector is becoming more legitimised with the guidelines and regulation. Nurses and doctors want to do something properly and once it becomes defined as a specialty they are more attracted to it.”
He said there was discontent in the medical profession at the moment, although he noted that a lot of those doing the academy’s courses did not leave the NHS entirely. “Most [of our trainees] … want another skill and you can rarely leap into the aesthetics profession in the first few years, it takes time to build up to that.”
Lorenzo Bernaudo, 42, a general surgeon, left his NHS job a few weeks ago after nine years in the UK healthcare system. He wanted more career progression, flexibility and a nicer work environment.
Bernaudo said: “More colleagues and consultants have approached me and said they are keen to move to the aesthetic industry either for more flexibility or for financial reasons. But it’s a myth that you earn a lot of money [in cosmetics] because it … takes time [to build up your business] and there is a lot of competition”
He added: “There is unfortunately a lot of unhappiness and dissatisfaction in the NHS these days.”
Mehta said more regulation around Botox could transform the sector. The Harley Academy follows the government recommendation that those administering injections should hold a level 7 diploma.
While a beautician can easily inject someone with filler, for example, with little discussion or consultation, Mehta said those with a medical background took a different approach.
“We would take a history, [ask] why does the patient want it. What procedures have they had in the past? Do they have a drug use history? We would take a full history and examine the patient and then assess them and work on a treatment plan,” he said.
He added that those in the medical profession were bound by the code of ethics.
The government’s consultation on a proposed licensing scheme has been welcomed by many. Mehta said the sector was “growing exponentially”, so there was a real risk if it was not regulated. One proposal in the consultation is that certain procedures, such as Botox, would require medical supervision, although there is no strict definition of what that may involve.
Felicity Williams, 37, left her job as an NHS paediatric doctor because she underwent IVF and could not easily get time off for fertility treatment.
“I used some sick leave at first for appointments and my managers were funny about that as I was not technically sick, and then I asked for time off for treatment at a reduced wage and they could not offer me this,” she said.
Williams qualified from Harley Academy a year ago and set up her own business, Felicity Aesthetics, in south-west London. She said a lot of medics were moving into aesthetics for a better quality of life. “No 14-hour shifts without food or a break, weekends off for family events, a social life.”
Williams said aesthetic medicine was a “fascinating molecular science”, adding that most medics would keep their role in the NHS part-time.
She said: “The UK is the only country in the world where treatments such as botulinum toxin [Botox], dermal fillers and thread lifts can be carried out by absolutely everyone, without appropriate professional qualifications or insurance. Individuals seeking cosmetic procedures deserve to do so in a safe environment, with complete trust in their practitioner’s ability and medical expertise.”
