DOCTORS are to be banned from carrying out cosmetic surgery unless they have at least five years’ training in the relevant speciality and have passed exams in the area, The Times has learnt.

Currently all surgeons can carry out potentially risky operations such as breast enlargements, facelifts and liposuction even if they have no relevant surgical training.

There are thought to be at least 600 doctors carrying out such procedures in the private sector at any time but fewer than half of these are thought to have the necessary qualifications to comply with the new rules.

The plans are contained in a report to be presented to Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, this month by Harry Clayton, the patient choice czar, and are certain to be accepted. They will also include new guidelines on how cosmetic surgery companies can advertise and will specify what information must be made available to patients before they undergo surgery.

Details of the report emerged as Body & Soul, the Times weekly health supplement, publishes new information about cosmetic surgery today, along with guidance for the public on how to avoid becoming a victim of underqualified and possibly dangerous practitioners.

Body & Soul’s “bodybeautiful” supplement, based on advice from cosmetic surgery national bodies and the latest information collected by the research body Dr Foster, advises the public to always check on a surgeon’s qualifications and whether they are members of a recognised professional body.

Reports in the guide show that even with reputable surgeons, complications with cosmetic surgery are common. For example, silicone leakage occurs in about 10 per cent of cases of breast enlargement.

The guide provides key questions to ask, and exclusive access to a database of 237 plastic surgeons who practise in the NHS, and are likely to be well qualified to conduct cosmetic work privately.

British women spend more than £225 million annually to improve their looks and figures with surgery, almost double the amount spent five years ago.

A recent survey showed that 42 per cent of teenagers had considered cosmetic surgery while another found that 7 per cent of women are considering a facelift. More than 100,000 cosmetic surgery operations take place each year. But there have long been concerns about the procedures used to regulate the industry.

Any surgeon can carry out cosmetic surgery without extra training and there are no enforceable standards of safety information which patients must receive before undergoing procedures such as breast enlargements or tummy-tucks. Non-surgical techniques such as Botox injections are not nationally regulated.

Every year more than £1 million in compensation is paid out by the industry to dissatisfied customers.

A survey carried out by the National Care Standard Commission as found that many private clinics fail to carry out basic checks on the identity of their surgeons. Very few have any kind of patient feedback, while some of the smaller establishments do not have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of clinical practice. A source close to Mr Clayton’s expert group who drew up the recommendations said: “At the moment you could train as a knee surgeon and yet still set up as a plastic surgeon doing breast enlargements.

“This is clearly an unsatisfactory loophole in the law and one that these recommendations will close.”

The regulations will be policed by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Healthcare Commission, which regulates clinics carrying out cosmetic surgery.

A spokeswoman for the GMC said that it already had the powers to strike off doctors who did not comply. “If a doctor is working outside their professional competence we can instigate action against them and will look carefully at these new regulations when they are published,” she said.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it could not comment on the report before its publication later this month.

SURGERY THAT WENT WRONG

Ravi Kant Agarwal avoided being struck off after bungling a penis enlargement operation on a patient. He was given a three-month suspended sentence

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