Rating system for cosmetic surgery

THE city’s health authority is to introduce a rating system for cosmetic surgery, medical staff and facilities, with procedures allowed only in line with ratings.

Each procedure will be scored according to its complication and risk. The authority will set a maximum score a patient can receive in one surgery.

“Currently, there is no such regulation in the nation. Some facilities just encourage patients to undergo several major and highly risky procures within one surgery,” said Dr Sun Baoshan from the Shanghai Cosmetic Surgery Quality Control Center. “There are medical accidents due to such improper practice. Shanghai is the first city in China to introduce such a scoring system to control risk and protect patients’ safety.”

According to the Shanghai Health Supervision Agency, there are over 300 medical facilities approved for cosmetic surgery. Some facilities conduct procedures without permission, hire unqualified staff, use illegal products or push patients to have more procedures to boost profits.

“It is very risky, as there have been cases in Shanghai and other cities where patients ended up in critical condition or even died due to such illegal practices,” Sun said. “With the development of cosmetic surgery, there are many new skills and procedures that the current regulation can’t properly supervise. So we are working on a rating and scoring system to improve supervision and avoid medical accidents.”

The agency has offered training to officials from local cosmetic facilities and required them to sign a selfdiscipline commitment for legal operation yesterday.