Undercover crackdown on clinics

Laser and light therapy is used for procedures such as tattoo removal

A health watchdog is to use undercover inspectors to crack down on "rogue providers" of cosmetic procedures such as laser therapies.

The Healthcare Commission, which regulates the independent sector as well as the NHS, has been given covert surveillance powers by parliament.

It will allow the commission to monitor the estimated 3,000 unregistered laser and light therapy providers in England.

It will help ensure patients receive safe and professional care, it said.

People should steer clear of clinics and doctors who are operating illegally Kate Lobley, Healthcare Commission

Laser and intense pulsed light therapies are used to carry out procedures ranging from eye surgery to hair and tattoo removal.

Registered practitioners, who are among the 1,800 independent healthcare providers approved by the Healthcare Commission, must show they meet safety and quality standards.

It is illegal to be an unregulated practitioner.

Monitoring unregistered practitioners could involve surveillance of a business, or acting as "mystery shoppers" and testing out the service.

Businesses will have 28 days to apply for registration.

If they do not do so satisfactorily - or if the commission believes the public may be in danger - it can apply for an injunction to stop the service operating.

Businesses could also be the subject of criminal prosecutions.

Phone listings

The Healthcare Commission said that it had sometimes been unable to catch unregistered practitioners and it cited the example of an unregistered slimming clinic which it became aware of.

The business moved premises three times, without telling officials where it was going.

The commission said covert surveillance would have allowed staff to watch the rear door of the clinic to stop staff escaping and disposing of drugs from the window.

The commission will also seek to make it harder for those who are not registered to get insurance, or for them to be charged more, and for phone directories not to list them.

Property owners in areas such as London's Harley Street will also be asked not to let properties to unregistered practitioners.

Safety standards

Kate Lobley, head of operations at the Healthcare Commission, said: "There are too many people providing healthcare services who are operating outside the law. We have to do something about that.

"Patients and the public want reassurance that services are safe and meeting minimum standards."

She said members of the public should check for a practitioner's Healthcare Commission certificate, which lists the services that they are licensed for.

"We need to use these powers carefully and proportionately, but we do intend to identify rogue healthcare providers.

"People should steer clear of clinics and doctors who are operating illegally," she said.