JCCP framework to replace HEE standards

The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners has created a Competency Framework, which replaces the Health Education England training recommendations.

The Department of Health asked Health Education England (HEE) to produce education and training standards for aesthetic practice back in 2013.

The resulting HEE framework recommended a Level 4 qualification for advanced treatments such as microneedling and laser hair removal and a Level 7 or equivalent for injectables. 

Professor David Sines, chair of the JCCP, chaired the HEE process at the time. The standards were subsequently accepted in January 2016 and a voluntary regulatory register was established (as recommended in the HEE Report), by the JCCP, which Sines was asked to chair in 2016.

The JCCP has now produced a revised education and training standards competency framework that builds on the 2015 HEE Education and Training Framework entitled ‘Qualification requirements for delivery of cosmetic procedures: Non-surgical cosmetic interventions and hair restoration surgery’. This framework was transferred to the JCCP from HEE for "custodianship" and "stewardship" in May, 2016 and is now formally owned and overseen by the JCCP.

The new Education & Training Standards and Competency Framework are now published on the JCCP website.

Meanwhile, the JCCP has also launched a register of approved training providers and announced the first three bodies to meet the requirements. These are: The Harley Academy, London – for the delivery of the IQ approved Level 7 Certificate in Injectables for Aesthetic Medicine; Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne – for the delivery of a Post Graduate Certificate in Professional Non-Surgical Aesthetic Practice (Modality: Toxins and fillers); and Sally Durant Aesthetic Education and Training, West Midlands – for the delivery of the CIBTAC Level 4 Certificate in Micro-Needling (CSDC03).

Last month, the JCCP withdrew access for beauty therapists to its registers of approved providers of injectables. Therapists can now only join the registers for non-invasive advanced treatments. However, while they are backed by Government, the registers and training framework currently remain voluntary rather than mandatory.