Maximum safety for patients: European technical committee drafts on a standard.

Vienna (AS prm, 2011-01-28)

Be it Botox injections, facelifts, liposuction or breast augmentation – all these interventions have one thing in common: from a medical perspective, they are not necessary and, nevertheless, their number rises at an unprecedented rate.

In Austria alone, 40,000 interventions were performed in 2006, and there were ten times as many in Germany. Their number stood at 217,000 in the United Kingdom and at 77,000 in the Netherlands. From 2012 on, a standard that is currently in preparation is to raise patient safety and significantly reduce hazard sources.

The need for standards rises in the service sector and solutions are frequently sought across national boundaries. This is also true in the field of aesthetic surgery.

The Austrian Standards Institute took account of this tendency and organised a European standardisation project. DI Dr. Karl Grün, Director Development, Austrian Standards Institute:

„Standards offer consumers protection and make a strong contribution to their safety. In an age in which services gain more and more significance, it is important that consumers can also rely on generally valid standards in this sector — and this is particularly true for aesthetic surgery.“

Hence, Austria submitted an application for the development of a European Standard on aesthetic surgery to the European Committee for Standardization in April 2010. Its objective is to ensure maximum protection and safety for patients. An interdisciplinary committee was set up whose members come from 22 European countries. Additionally, representatives of eight European and international medical societies contribute to the work.

On 21 and 22 January 2011, the Austrian Standards Institute hosted a meeting of this high-level committee made up of medical doctors specialising in various disciplines, patients, consumer protection experts, representatives of authorities as well as aesthetic surgery clinics and service companies in Vienna. Its agenda included the finalisation of the code of ethics that was already developed at the first meeting held in Bratislava in September 2010 on the one hand and the further development of the standard based on the proposals and comments received on the other hand.

Dr. Johann Umschaden, Medical Director of the Schwarzl Klinik Laßnitzhöhe, Styria, and chairman of the technical committee at the Austrian Standards Institute:

„Important issues related to an intervention are not directly identifiable and verifiable by patients in most cases. Are the surgical instruments sterile? What does the attending surgeon do in case of complications? Did the patient receive sufficient personal advice or were unpleasant details withheld in order to avoid losing business? Many issues have to be discussed thoroughly here.“

Who is allowed to do what, when and where?

The objective of the committee meeting was to further detail the specifications to be laid down in the standard on aesthetic surgery. The participants focused, for example, on the questions of which criteria have to be met by a person active in the field of aesthetic surgery, which competence is required for specific interventions and which requirements have to be met by the facilities where the interventions are performed with regard to sterility and hygiene. Additionally, the committee also intends to define standards for handling emergencies. Moreover, it also fine-tunes a harmonised disclosure statement informing patients clearly and unambiguously on the quality standards applied — from initial contact to follow-up care.

The committee’s secretary, Karl Grün, was highly satisfied with the outcome of the meeting:

„We achieved a clear commitment to the benefit of patients across all disciplines. Further discussions are scheduled to take place in Brussels in May. By that time, we want to present a mature proposal that is to be submitted to the public in the individual countries already in the autumn of 2011.“

The aim is to finalise the standard on aesthetic surgery by the end of 2012.