When will Australia's regulator start protecting patients?

ASAPS demands immediate action from AHPRA over use of the title of ‘cosmetic surgeon’

Leading professional body, the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) is pressuring AHPRA, Australia’s health regulator, to take immediate action and ban the use of the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ by those who are not in fact specialist surgeons. In Australia, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) is the benchmark that provides a nationally consistent standard of care that patients can rely on for specialist treatment. It decides what specialist training is accredited, recognised and safe. AMC accreditation provides independent oversight of both standards of specialist education and ongoing compliance with ongoing professional education. Only practitioners who have successfully completed Australian Medical Council accredited training can use legitimate approved specialist surgical titles. However, most practitioners who use the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ are not registered surgical specialists. This is currently allowed by AHPRA.

The use of the title of ‘cosmetic surgeon’ is a free for all—it can be used by any medical practitioner without AHPRA registration as a specialist surgeon and without Australian Medical Councilaccredited surgical training. It means doctors with no more than a basic medical degree can call themselves a ‘cosmetic surgeon’. A recent survey has shown that 81 per cent of Australians agree that the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ implies that the doctor is a registered specialist surgeon. There is therefore a real issue as to whether patients understand that their surgeries are not in fact being carried out by a specialist accredited surgeon. Robert Sheen, President of the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) says, “The issue here is one of transparency. Transparency is central to patients making informed choices about their healthcare provider. “There are practitioners who self-label as cosmetic surgeons yet do not have specialist surgical registration, and do not reveal this important detail to their existing or prospective patients. “It is AHPRA’s job to regulate anyone who would perform procedures on a patient. Part of that regulation should be to enforce transparency and honesty about titles that clearly communicate assumed levels of education and expertise. “The National Law that already exists even mandates transparency in Section 118: ‘to protect members of the public to ensure they are not misled’. “The terms ‘cosmetic surgeon’ and ‘plastic surgeon’ are used interchangeably, and people wrongly assume both titles reflect the same level of expertise. The difference is this: only practitioners who have completed an additional 8 – 12 years of AMC accredited specialist plastic surgical training, beyond their medical degree, can lawfully call themselves a registered specialist plastic surgeon. Whereas the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ is a free-for-all. It is not backed up by AMC accredited training." In November 2019, Australian State and Federal Health Ministers voted unanimously to restrict the use of ‘surgeon’, including by those using the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ without the other appropriate specific training, in order to prevent causing confusion among members of the public. However, practitioners carry on every day using the term ‘cosmetic surgeon’ when they are not specialist surgeons. Action needs to be taken immediately to rectify these issues in order to protect patients and ensure that they understand the qualifications of the medical practitioner carrying out their surgery.

We are pleased to see that, at the time of printing, a review of cosmetic surgery has been announced by Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia.