Investigation reveals extent of Britain’s backstreet cosmetic surgery scandal

Secret filming by ITV News has given a rare insight into dangerous cosmetic practices being carried out in some of Britain’s high-street salons by ‘wild west operators’.
The footage forms part of a year-long investigation into unregulated cosmetic surgery for a new ITV documentary – ‘Britain’s Backstreet Surgery Scandal’ – in which the new health secretary Wes Streeting commits to taking action against those carrying out these procedures.
As part of that investigation we discovered that every week, behind the doors of an unassuming beauty salon in south London, dangerous cosmetic training courses are taking place.
Our reporter signed up for a one-day training course in “fat reduction” procedures at Luxury Medical Aesthetics in Clapham. The salon charged £1500 to teach the treatment.
But the undercover footage shows the moment an incision is made in a client’s jawline, before the beautician begins to remove fat with a ‘suction wand’ – a sharp, long metal tube that pierces the skin and crudely sucks fat out as the operator plunges it up and down beneath her skin.
The client – who has had only local anaesthetic – is clearly experiencing pain, but the trainer continues regardless.
Undercover footage from inside a one-day training course in “fat reduction” procedures at Luxury Medical Aesthetics in Clapham
“If we damage the nerves on one side, then we’re very, very careful on the other side,” the trainer tells her students.
She even tries to reassure the group that during hundreds of procedures, she has only damaged “two nerves” and “one artery”.
And despite having no prior experience, it isn’t long before she hands over the instrument to her students to have a go.
Our reporter made her excuses and left before she was invited to join in, but despite this, she still passed the course, leaving with a certificate from Luxury Medical Aesthetics.
In the UK, there is no regulation to prevent non-medics performing these procedures, while doctors face strict regulation from the General Medical Council (GMC).
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The scale of the crisis has until now been unclear, but new research by ITV News reveals the extent of the scandal.
A freedom of information request found: Since 2021, there have been 1193 ambulance callouts to businesses with “beauty” or “aesthetics” in the name, for reasons including “chest pain”, “immediate threats to life” and “major trauma”.
In the last five years, there have been 670 complaints to local authorities about aesthetic procedures.
Now, a senior surgeon has called for immediate action.
‘They’re just not thinking about the patient…it disgusts me, to be honest’
“I’ve been a doctor for over 22 years, and I never thought in my lifetime I’d see something like that”, consultant plastic surgeon, Professor Iain Whitaker said, after viewing the undercover footage.
“How she can be allowed to do this, with zero training, or medical background is just beyond belief,” he told us.
“They’re just not thinking about the patient…it disgusts me, to be honest.”
ITV News has spoken to multiple women who have had side effects or medical emergencies after treatments at Luxury Medical Aesthetics.
Keylea-Anne Griffiths was rushed to hospital, suffering damage to her bladder, after paying to have the fat reduction treatment.
“I felt this hot metal rod piercing my skin…I was squealing in pain,” she remembered.
Ms Griffiths also recalls lying on the bed and seeing another person’s blood splattered up the salon wall.
The following day Ms Griffiths drove the four-hour journey home from London in agony, without any pain relief. She was eventually taken to A&E after being unable to pass urine, due to temporary damage to her bladder.
She said when she messaged the salon to tell them what had happened, it was two days before she received a call.
“They said I had been too interested in what machines we were using, rather than the aftercare advice we were trying to provide,” Ms Griffiths added.
Keylea-Anne Griffiths was rushed to hospital, suffering damage to her bladder, after paying to have the fat reduction treatment
ITV News put these criticisms to Luxury Medical Aesthetics who chose not to respond to the safety concerns raised.
When we approached the owner outside her salon, she didn’t want to answer our questions.
ITV News Digital Video Producer Cree-Summer Haughton approached the owner of Luxury Medical Aesthetics outside her salon
It’s not just high-street liposuction treatments which are cause for concern.
Liquid BBLs are also a popular choice for people searching for a fuller figure.
Surgeons performing a Brazilian Butt Lift would typically inject fat from another part of the body into the buttocks.
But salons are able to offer a “non-surgical” option, by inserting hundreds of millilitres of filler instead.
In September, 33-year-old Alice Webb became the first person in the UK to die from a liquid BBL procedure at a clinic in the South West of England.
Last month, Ms Webb’s partner, Dane Knight, told ITV News: “I think more could be done, I think the process could be speeded up more. It’s yet to be seen if they’re taking this seriously enough.” In an exclusive interview, he said Ms Webb’s death had “massively affected” their family and left him feeling like an “empty vessel”.
Mr Knight and his family are now calling for the introduction of Alice’s Law, which would make it illegal for anyone other than a registered Plastic Surgeon on the GMC specialist register, operating from a Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated environment, to perform buttock augmentation procedures using hyaluronic acid dermal fillers.
Alice’s family have begun a petition, Save Face, to gather support for the law change.
The previous Conservative government had conducted a public consultation to investigate the issue of non-surgical cosmetic procedures with a commitment to looking at new regulations.
The new Labour health secretary, Wes Streeting, spoke to ITV News publicly about the issue for the first time saying it was “absolutely disgusting that there are wild west operators practising actually dangerously in cosmetic surgery and putting people’s lives at risk. And we’ve seen that in the tragic case of Alice”.
Wes Streeting spoke to ITV News publicly about the issue for the first time and committed to taking action against those carrying out these procedures
He also confirmed that he would commit to seeing through the work the previous government initiated.
“We are carrying it through. We are working as fast as we can. We know that we need to act. We are taking this seriously. We’re going as fast as we can.”
Yet despite that commitment, the new health secretary wouldn’t be drawn on a timeframe leaving campaigners frustrated.
Those calling for change say the laws have failed to keep pace with the multi-million-pound industry and there are demands for a new overarching licensing system to be introduced to prevent further harm to patients.
Britain’s Backstreet Surgery Scandal is available to watch on ITVX from Thursday November 14.
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