'Alarming' disparity in quality of Botox care

PEOPLE undergoing cosmetic botox jabs in the UK receive "alarming" differences in quality of care, reveals new research.

- RENEE KEITH

Patients are not always offered advice or given consent forms before undergoing the anti-wrinkle treatment, according to the largest study of its kind which revealed "serious gaps" in the system.

More than 900 adults who had undergone botulinum toxin treatment - commonly referred to by the brand name Botox - took part in the research led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge.

An estimated 900,000 cosmetic anti-wrinkle procedures are performed annually in the UK. But it remains one of the only high-income nations where non-healthcare professionals can legally administer botox with minimal oversight.

Of the 919 participants, 91 per cent were female, the majority (54 per cent) had received more than five anti-wrinkle injections, most commonly delivered in beauty clinics (46 per cent). More than four out of five participants (81 per cent) said their motivation for treatment was anti-ageing reasons, according to the findings published by Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum.

But fewer than half (42 per cent) said that a prescriber was present during their consultation despite existing requirements for botox to be dispensed by a qualified prescriber,