# Skin Clinic Finder > A public interest guide to checking a UK aesthetic clinic yourself, using public registers. Published independently. ## What this publication does and does not do - It names no clinic, practitioner, group or brand anywhere, at any price. - It publishes the checking procedure rather than the answer. - It invents no price, statistic, complication rate, study or inspection finding. - It publishes no ranking and no best of list. Where a ranking would be expected, it publishes criteria. - It sells no clinic listing, lead, badge, link or sponsored guidance, at any price. - Every external link is nofollow. Every article states that it carries no commercial links, because it does not. - Where a statutory power exists but has not been commenced, it says so and explains how to check the position at source. ## The two structural devices - REGISTER CHECK: which register to open, exactly what to type, what a good result looks like, what an ambiguous result looks like, and what a clean result does not prove. - NOT PROOF OF: what a given credential, badge, registration or mark genuinely does not establish. ## Sections ### Public registers: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers There is no single register of aesthetic clinics in the United Kingdom. There are registers of people, of companies, of authorised financial firms, and two voluntary lists run by private bodies. Each answers one narrow question. Here is how to read every one of them. - [Which UK registers exist, and what each one actually proves](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/which-uk-registers-exist-and-what-each-one-proves): There is no single register of aesthetic clinics in the United Kingdom. There are several registers of people, a small number of registers of premises that only cover some clinics, a register of compa - [How to read a GMC register entry properly](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/how-to-read-a-gmc-register-entry): A GMC entry has several fields and most people read only the first. Full registration means the doctor may practise in the UK. A licence to practise is a separate field, and without one a doctor canno - [How to read an NMC register entry, and what a prescribing annotation means](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/how-to-read-an-nmc-register-entry): The Nursing and Midwifery Council register shows whether a person is a registered nurse or midwife, in which part of the register, and whether they hold an annotation as an independent or supplementar - [Checking dentists, pharmacists and HCPC registered professionals](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/checking-dentists-pharmacists-and-hcpc-professions): Dentists and dental care professionals are on the General Dental Council register, and the title on the entry limits what that person may lawfully do. Pharmacists are on the General Pharmaceutical Cou - [The JCCP and Save Face: what voluntary registers are, and what they are not](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/jccp-and-save-face-what-voluntary-registers-are-and-are-not): The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners and Save Face are voluntary registers run by private organisations, not statutory regulators. A practitioner appears on one because they applied and met th - [Companies House: what a clinic's company record tells you, and what it cannot](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/registers/companies-house-what-a-clinic-company-record-tells-you): Companies House is the free public record of UK companies. It tells you which limited company sits behind a trading name, when it was incorporated, who the directors and persons with significant contr ### Premises and licensing: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises Premises regulation attaches to defined activities, not to the word clinic, and the four nations draw the boundary differently. A great deal of cosmetic injectable work sits outside every scheme, lawfully. Establish which side of the line your treatment falls on. - [What premises regulation covers, and what it does not](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises/what-premises-regulation-covers-and-what-it-does-not): Premises regulation in the United Kingdom attaches to defined regulated activities, not to the word clinic. A great deal of purely cosmetic injectable treatment is not a regulated activity, so many ae - [How to check a CQC registration in England, and how to read the report](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises/how-to-check-a-cqc-registration-in-england): The Care Quality Commission publishes a searchable register of providers and locations in England, with inspection reports and ratings where they exist. Search by provider name, location name and post - [Checking a clinic in Scotland: Healthcare Improvement Scotland](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises/checking-a-clinic-in-scotland): Independent clinics in Scotland providing services by certain regulated healthcare professionals must register with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which inspects them and publishes reports. The scop - [Checking a clinic in Wales and Northern Ireland](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises/checking-a-clinic-in-wales-and-northern-ireland): Healthcare Inspectorate Wales registers and inspects independent health care establishments in Wales. The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority does the same for independent health care in Nort - [The licensing scheme in England under the Health and Care Act 2022](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/premises/the-licensing-scheme-in-england-under-the-health-and-care-act-2022): Section 180 of the Health and Care Act 2022 gives the Secretary of State power to make regulations creating a licensing scheme for non surgical cosmetic procedures in England. A power to make regulati ### Prescribing and medicines: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing Botulinum toxin is a prescription only medicine. Most dermal fillers are devices. That single distinction decides whether an assessment is required by law, who must be involved, and how much of the checking falls to you. - [Which treatments legally require a prescriber, and which do not](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing/which-treatments-legally-require-a-prescriber): Botulinum toxin products are prescription only medicines, so a prescription written by an appropriate practitioner after an assessment of you is required before any is administered. Most dermal filler - [What prescription only status means for who is allowed to inject you](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing/what-a-prescription-only-medicine-means-for-who-injects-you): A prescription only medicine must be prescribed by an appropriate practitioner for a named patient after an assessment. It may then be administered by another person acting on the prescriber's directi - [Remote prescribing, and why it matters more here than anywhere else](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing/remote-prescribing-and-why-it-matters): Professional regulators have been explicit that prescribing injectable medicines for cosmetic procedures without assessing the patient in person is not acceptable practice. A questionnaire, a photogra - [Dermal fillers are not prescription only, and what follows from that](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing/dermal-fillers-are-not-prescription-only-and-what-follows): Most dermal fillers are regulated as medical devices rather than medicines. There is no prescription, therefore no prescriber, therefore no assessment required by medicines law, and in most of the Uni - [Under 18s: what the law says about toxin and fillers](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/prescribing/under-18s-and-the-law-on-toxin-and-fillers): The Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 made it an offence in England to administer botulinum toxin or certain cosmetic fillers to a person under 18 for cosmetic purposes, and to ### Consultation and consent: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation Consent is a process, not a signature, and professional guidance sets out in writing what the process should contain. That gives you something better than a feeling about an appointment: a list you can measure it against, in the regulator's own words. - [What a proper consultation contains, item by item](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation/what-a-proper-consultation-contains): A proper consultation covers your medical history and medication, an examination of the area, a discussion of what the treatment can and cannot achieve, the material risks including the uncommon serio - [What a sales pitch looks like instead, and how to tell early](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation/what-a-sales-pitch-looks-like-instead): A sales process is recognisable by structure rather than tone. Price pressure tied to the appointment, treatment recommended before assessment, packages larger than the concern you arrived with, disco - [What a good consent process looks like, and what a signature is worth](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation/what-a-good-consent-process-looks-like): Consent is a process of discussion and decision, not a signature. Published guidance expects the person carrying out the procedure to seek consent, to give information about material risks and alterna - [Asking for evidence of indemnity insurance without being awkward about it](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation/asking-for-evidence-of-indemnity-insurance): Indemnity insurance is the arrangement that would meet a claim if you were harmed. No public register records it, so the only way to establish it is to ask, and the only way to check the answer is to - [Your records and photographs, and what you are entitled to ask for](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/consultation/your-records-photographs-and-what-you-can-ask-for): Your treatment records, consent documents and clinical photographs are personal data about you, and data protection law gives you a right of access to them. A proper record includes the product name a ### Money and contracts: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money A cosmetic treatment is a contract. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 may apply, credit agreements are separate contracts with separate consequences, and prepayment moves risk onto you. - [What consumer law actually gives you when a treatment goes wrong](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money/what-consumer-law-actually-gives-you): Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a service supplied to a consumer must be performed with reasonable care and skill, for a reasonable price where none was agreed, and within a reasonable time where n - [The cooling off period: what it covers, and what it does not](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money/the-cooling-off-period-and-what-it-does-and-does-not-cover): The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a 14 day cancellation right for contracts made at a distance or away from business premises, together with rights to specified pre contract information. A - [How to check a finance agreement, and the firm offering it](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money/how-to-check-a-finance-agreement-and-the-fca-register): A pay monthly plan for cosmetic treatment is usually a regulated credit agreement. The lender, and normally the clinic acting as a credit broker, must have the appropriate Financial Conduct Authority - [Deposits, packages and courses of treatment paid in advance](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money/deposits-packages-and-courses-of-treatment): Paying in advance for a course of treatment transfers risk to you. If the business closes, prepaid sessions are usually an unsecured claim in an insolvency and are rarely recovered. Before paying, est - [What a quotation should state before you pay anything](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/money/what-a-quotation-should-state-before-you-pay): A quotation should name the legal entity you are contracting with, the individual who will carry out the treatment, the product by name, the quantity, the total price including everything, what is and ### Evidence and complaints: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence Reviews, advertising claims, product claims and complaint routes. What each one can tell you, what it cannot, and which body has the power to act when something has gone wrong. - [What to do when something goes wrong, in the order to do it](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/what-to-do-when-something-goes-wrong): Deal with the clinical situation first: if you have severe or increasing pain, blanching or discolouration of the skin, vision changes or signs of infection, seek urgent medical help rather than waiti - [Who you complain to, for each type of provider and each type of problem](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/who-you-complain-to-for-each-type-of-provider): There is no single complaints body for cosmetic treatment. Concerns about a registered individual go to their professional regulator. Concerns about a registered service go to the inspectorate for tha - [How to read online reviews, once you know how they are gathered](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/how-to-read-online-reviews-knowing-how-they-are-gathered): Most cosmetic clinic reviews are gathered soon after treatment, when the result is fresh and the relationship is warm, often at the clinic's prompting. That timing systematically favours the experienc - [What an advertising rule breach looks like in cosmetic marketing](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/what-an-advertising-rule-breach-looks-like): Prescription only medicines may not be advertised to the general public, which is why advertising botulinum toxin by brand name to consumers breaches both medicines law and the advertising codes. The - [How to report an advertising breach, step by step](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/how-to-report-an-advertising-breach): Complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority are free and can be made online by anyone who has seen the advertisement. What makes a complaint actionable is precision: what the advertisement said, - [How to check a claim about a product or a device](https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/evidence/how-to-check-a-claim-about-a-product-or-device): Ask for the product or device by full name, then test the claim by type. Regulatory status is a matter for the MHRA and the conformity marking regime, and a marking relates to the product being placed ## Reference pages - The checklist, every procedure in order: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/checklist - About and the funding model: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/about - Editorial standards: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/editorial-standards - What we refuse to sell: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/what-we-do-not-sell - Professional register: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/professional-register - Criteria and rate card: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/professional-register/terms - Newsletter and sponsorship: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/newsletter - Contact: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/contact - Privacy: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/privacy ## Machine access - Feed: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/feed.xml - Sitemap: https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/sitemap.xml - Publisher: Skin Clinic Finder (https://www.skinclinicfinder.com/publisher) - Attribution: cite the title and the article URL. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. ## Trademark Product and company names mentioned here are the trademarks of their respective owners. Use of a name does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.