Sitting down to write the first Journal of Aesthetic Nursing (JAN) editorial of 2021, I naturally reflected upon the past year, which began by reading the first editorial of 2020. There was a definite sense of hope and excitement, ‘as we enter[ed] not only a new year, but a new decade’ (Callaghan, 2020). Education and advertising guidelines were two of the main focuses, and yet, little did anyone know just how much education would change in 2020.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to necessary adaptations in the education sector, with virtual transformations happening seemingly overnight. Gone were crowded conferences, networking and meeting with likeminded professionals. The ‘Zoom boom’ soon emerged, with many using it in daily practice to carry out virtual consultations with patients as medical aesthetic clinics closed. However, many of the rules imposed by the UK Government have been unclear, and, at times, medical aesthetic clinic owners have been left unsure as to whether they are able to keep their businesses open or not. The divide between medical practitioners and lay groups (beauty therapists and hairdressers, etc) seemed to become larger than ever, as reports emerged of lays opening a ‘back door’ business to treat the public during lockdown, as usual shops and locations to carry out business have been shut.
On 18 January 2021, Sharon Bennett of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses joined Emma Barnett on BBC's Woman's Hour to discuss how medical aesthetic practitioners were increasingly correcting the botched procedures being carried out by untrained practitioners and lay groups (Barnett, 2021). One patient's recollection of visiting a lay practitioner was detailed during the episode, describing how the untrained injector hit an artery, resulting in the dermal filler site swelling to ‘the size of a golf ball’ (Barnett, 2021). The patient described the site as ‘black’ and ‘throbbing’ and later commented that her face was turning purple, as there was no blood supply to the site. The lay injector then told the patient that it was just swelling. This goes to show that prevention is cheaper than the cure, and real aesthetic regulation is needed.
Bennett was asked for her comment on why the UK Government has not taken action—a question that has been on all of our lips for a long time. She answered that the lack of action surely came from economic reasoning. Despite the innumerable warnings and advice from trained nurses, doctors and dentists, and the detailed knowledge of anatomy that is required to carry out injectable treatments, the Government still has an apparent need for ‘compelling’ evidence that these procedures being carried out are dangerous in the hands of lay groups. Health minister Nadine Dorries also commented that she recognised that too many women were being left ‘scarred and traumatised’ from injectable treatments and that registering and licensing medical aesthetic practitioners was necessary moving forward (Barnett, 2021). This raises the question of who would oversee this registering and licensing, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Change is coming, and while this will bring with it a whole new set of challenges to overcome, I know that medical aesthetic practitioners will never stop fighting for what is right.