Botox on high street is ‘a recipe for disaster’

FRIDAY

as Botox and fillers are medical and should be performed in a medical clinic, not a high street pharmacy. The complications of fillers can be quite dangerous and the risks include blindness. “Thankfully, these things are rare but when they are threatened, it requires extensive knowledge, experience and skills to recognise and treat.

“We are seeing an increasing number of people coming to us, usually younger women who have had their lips done with complications associated with fillers performed in cheaper places.

“They end up spending far more money just to fix the complications.

“In the speciality of cosmetic medicine, we want to drive quality standards high. We don’t want there to be a race to the bottom of quality.

“My impression of Superdrug is that it is cheap and cheerful and putting health care in a cheap and cheerful environment is a recipe for disaster.”

In their advert for nurse practitioners, Superdrug have asked for experienced staff who are “qualified in the use of Botulinum Toxin Type A & Dermal Fillers”.

But they also stipulate a need for those who “have the boldness to try new marketing ideas, raising awareness of service” and are “commercially minded”.

Shoaib said it was worrying to be recruiting staff on the grounds that they are commercially savvy.

He said: “Healthcare should not have being ‘commercially minded’ at the forefront. It should be all about looking after patients and trying to do the best for them, looking at their history and examining them properly and giving them treatment which gives them the best outcome.

“They have shifted the perspective of health care into a commodity, a money-making business.”

Superdrug said the nurse prescriber in their London store specialises in aesthetic medicine, has 18 years’ experience and is trained to understand and administer the major brands of toxin and fillers.