A new national-first inspectorate for the aesthetics industry is being launched today in the UK.
The Association of Cosmetic Practitioners Britain (ACPB) has teamed up with IQ Verify, an established certification body with experience within the field of aesthetic medicine, to provide independent 3rd party auditing services to help increase public safety.
The inspectorate will check premises where aesthetic treatments are being carried out against a set of criteria which are in line with the latest cosmetic standards.
The audit is conducted in two parts:
The first an online self-assessment checklist that assesses compliance with the latest cosmetic guidelines (CPSA, CQC) and the more recent, Covid-19 centred infection control considerations.
The second is an on-site physical audit that verifies the implementation of the information provided in the stage one self-assessment.
With no current regulations or legislative requirements in the industry, the ACPB is determined to show that non-medics are working to a high set of standards and are willing to be scrutinised and the results made public. Practitioner competence is not a factor included within the audit, more-so the safety of the clinical environment within which these treatments are to be delivered.
The full two stage audit will cost just £800 (+VAT) and is now taking bookings from across the country.
Maxine Hopley, ACPB-founder and CEO of Cosmetic Couture, the leading training academy for aesthetics in the UK said this is a step towards proving the willingness of the industry to be open to public scrutiny, improve standards and ultimately help establish a licensing system.
Maxine said: “I’m delighted to have been able to help launch this ground-breaking initiative and hope many aesthetic practitioners will sign up to be inspected and have the results published. They can then use their results to prove they are professional practitioners and stand out from the crowd.
“It is important that this process is independent, and we are really pleased that through IQ Verify we have been able to create a really stringent inspection audit matched to the very highest national standards.
“Cosmetic Couture is the first on the list to be audited and is putting its money where its mouth is – and we would encourage all ACPB members and all aesthetic practitioners to sign up for an audit”.
Results of inspections will be quantified using a four-tier grading scale of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.
ACPB will use the IQ Verify audit reports to issue an ACPB certificate of compliance or request and schedule improvements prior to issuing any certification.
The certificate would have a two-year expiry date, after which a further audit must be scheduled to ensure the maintenance of standards over time.
To book a two-part inspection to prove how professional you are please contact support@acpb.co.uk
