Standards of prescribing: the possible implications of a licensing scheme

The implementation of a licensing scheme mandated this year through the Health and Care Act (2020) has been the source of some confusion, misunderstanding and misinformation. It is understood that the required licence will be a two-part premises and separate practitioner competence licence, and the details will be subject to public consultation, currently set for spring 2023. There is an indication in the broadest terms of the procedures likely to be included in the licence but much else is currently conjecture. The role and activity of prescribing and the management of medicines are core features of much of the cosmetic sector. Irrespective of any speculation surrounding the detail of the licensing scheme, prescribing and medicines use are controlled by legislation and professional regulation, requirements that those responsible for implementing the scheme will be obliged to enforce.

Current licensing mechanisms (for example, relating to acupuncture and body piercing) are enforced by local authority environmental health officers (EHOs), enabled by their powers under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, along with any other legislation relevant to an investigation, for the purposes of this article, the Human Medicines Regulations (2012). EHOs have the power to enter premises without notice, issue enforcement or prohibition notices and, where necessary, prosecute. Perhaps the most high-profile use of these powers concerns the prosecution of ‘Dr Evil’ in 2019 (Coyne, 2019).