Save Face to Clean Up Non-surgical Aesthetic Industry

Lorna Jackson
By Lorna Jackson

Lorna was Editor of Consulting Room (www.consultingroom.com), the UK's largest aesthetic information website, from 2003 to 2021.


Save Face Logo

A new organisation designed to give qualified non-invasive cosmetic surgery practitioners a competitive edge over their less professional counterparts is being launched this summer.

Save Face Ltd will operate as an independent and impartial scheme to provide accreditation and regulation to those offering non-surgical cosmetic practices.

For clinicians, it will act as a platform to acknowledge, promote and reward best practices. For consumers, it will be a resource through which they can make an informed decision about both their choice of treatment and provider.

The official launch of Save Face Ltd will take place at the leading industry exhibition for the sector – the Facial Aesthetic Conference and Exhibition (FACE) – at the QEII Centre in London on Friday 20 June. More than 1,500 clinicians will attend the show which is the biggest of its kind in the UK.

As well as holding a special reception for guests to mark the launch, representatives from SFL have also been invited to join two expert-speaking panels at the event.

Director of Save Face, Brett Collins, said: “The explosion in the marketplace in recent years has resulted in a sea of operators – many of whom are not trained, qualified or audited.  It is an area of great concern, which has been identified but not yet fully addressed.

This has resulted in a number of challenges facing the sector – most notably in terms of reputation. There is also concern amongst respected practitioners that there is little to differentiate them from their so-called competitors.

Save Face will tackle these issues head-on by working closely with the industry to provide a platform through which we can champion the most reputable, well-qualified and professional practitioners and clinics which offer non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Through our website, consumers can search for and find only the very best practitioners who adhere to the highest industry standards.”  

The thinking behind Save Face is to provide an accreditation scheme for practitioners – through robust auditing and monitoring measures – which will enable customers to make an informed decision when selecting a practitioner to undergo non-surgical cosmetic treatments. It will also highlight the prospective risks, complications and effects consumers may face if they opt for treatments by untrained and unqualified practitioners.

Co-director, Ashton Honeyball, said: “An industry benchmark which informs and protects the consumer is long overdue. Equally, it is high time that clinicians who constantly seek to improve and invest in best practice are acknowledged, differentiated and rewarded. We are looking forward to making our introduction at the FACE exhibition and liaising directly with the practitioners themselves to help support both the future and the image of the industry.

The Save Face business model has been developed in response to recommendations outlined in the Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions report produced by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, which advocated clear standards of practice and formal accreditation of all providers who undertake surgical and non-surgical cosmetic interventions.

To achieve accreditation by Save Face, practitioners must have:

  • Achieved accredited qualifications
  • Operate from premises meeting certain requirements
  • Adhere to a code of conduct which covers handling complaints and redress, insurance, responsible advertising practice and consent packages
  • Continued demonstration of competence through an annual appraisal

Ashton added: “It is critical that we create an informed and empowered public which is given as much evidence-based information as possible to help them make the right choice. It is also important that they can differentiate between practitioners and premises that attain standards from those who do not.  The scheme is not an endpoint for practitioners either, its aim is to drive continuous improvement.

The delivery of the Save Face accreditation programme will be managed by a non-executive advisory board. Save Face Ltd has its head office in South Wales and works with consumers and clinicians across the UK. The business model has been developed by the two directors Brett Collins and Ashton Honeyball who have appointed two highly experienced clinical directors – Marie Dolan and Emma Davies – to work directly with industry professionals.

Save Face Team

 


The Save Face team:

Brett Collins - SFL Director
Before forming Save Face with Ashton Honeyball, Brett gained significant business management experience working for a number of blue-chip companies across the UK. He also managed his own business consultancy offering integrated compliance solutions and gained valuable experience in both medical and accreditation business environments.
 
He has headed up a number of business teams and has many years of sales and business development experience. He is passionate about his commitment to helping develop Save Face as the leading accreditation and consumer reference body for non-surgical treatments in the UK.
 
Ashton Honeyball – SFL Director
Ashton recognised the fact that an unaccredited and unregulated non-surgical treatment market was a minefield for consumers seeking to find safe treatments. She also recognised that the industry featured a large number of unskilled practitioners delivering a range of services of varying quality and competence. Working with partner Brett Collins to establish Save Face satisfied her commitment to bringing about changes in the industry by creating a source of good quality, reliable and truthful information alongside a database of professional, qualified practitioners.
 
Prior to helping to launch Save Face, she worked as a bid manager for large multi-disciplinary health, safety and environmental business.
 
Marie Dolan – SFL clinical director
Before joining Save Face Marie was the lead nurse at Destination Skin where she managed a team of doctors & nurses throughout the UK to competently & safely administer cosmetic injectable treatments. Her work ensured the successful growth and development of a rapidly expanding national corporate chain of 26 aesthetic high street clinics; both stand-alone and situated within House of Fraser stores.
 
Prior to that, she was the lead nurse in the non-surgical department of the Hospital Group carrying out various treatments and responsible for the formation of 13 non-surgical clinics throughout the country. Her career has seen Marie gain valuable experience in the industry as the national training manager for Lifestyle Aesthetics where she was responsible for designing and implementing training courses in non-surgical treatment procedures.
 
Emma Davies – SFL clinical director
Emma Davies is the former chair of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses which she helped establish and has been an aesthetic nurse since 1998, with her own clinic in Somerset. With a special interest in sclerotherapy, she established, in partnership with a vascular surgeon, Veincare Training, to teach and promote best practices in the treatment of thread veins.
 
She has been an active member of the RCN Aesthetic Nurses Forum Committee and is proud of the achievements of this group. While supported by the RCN the forum group was able to find a credible political voice and published several important documents that have informed practice and been recognised and referenced by others establishing standards of practice. Emma also co-authored the BACN competency framework for nurses in aesthetic medicine.

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