Sir, – Dr Peter Prendergast, referred to as trained in cardiothoracic surgery and who performs "'aesthetic surgery" including "vaginal lifts", states that he would like to see regulation and "formal training" introduced in Ireland (Life, January 27th).
The Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons (IAPS), of which Dr Prendergast is not a member, would like to assure the public that rigorous and lengthy formal training is available to those who wish to qualify in the speciality of “plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery”. Only after surgeons have completed extensive higher surgical training (six years), specialist examination and in-service assessments by the Royal College of Surgeons are they eligible to be entered onto the Irish Medical Council’s specialist register.
Members of the public should always check to see if their doctor is qualified to perform plastic surgery as your readers will be surprised to learn that any doctor in Ireland can undertake any cosmetic procedure, and even operate on patients, without such training and qualification. These doctors often refer to themselves as “cosmetic surgeons”, a term not regulated by the Medical Council, or any other body.
In other European countries, such as France and Denmark, there are clear legal guidelines that state what type of surgery can be performed and which practitioners can offer what type of services. These were developed, in the interest of patient safety, after years of misleading advertising, inaccurate website claims and unsubstantiated claims of success by non-specialist doctors and commercial clinics in those countries.
IAPS has made numerous calls in the past on the government and the health authorities to regulate plastic surgery far more stringently. We wish to reiterate this call. – Yours, etc,
Dr PATRICIA EADIE,
FRCSI (Plast),
President, Irish Association
of Plastic Surgeons,
St Stephen’s Green,
Dublin 2.