Minimum age for cosmetic surgery on the IOM could rise to 18

Government launches consultation on proposed Regulation of Health and Social Care Bill

Report by BBC Isle of Man

A minimum age of 18 could be set for people seeking treatments such as cosmetic fillers, body piercings and tattoos on the Isle of Man under new proposals.

The change could come into effect under the Regulation of Health and Social Care Bill, which is currently being developed and aims to regulate and inspect more businesses providing health and social care services.

Currently the minimum age to consent for medical care without parental approval is 16, which would remain unchanged for general care but would increase for cosmetic procedures.

The bill follows Sir Johnathon Michael's 2018 review of Manx health services after it concluded existing regulations were "not sufficiently robust to protect the Manx public."

The new proposed minimum age would align the island with other jurisdictions such as England.

The bill also seeks to bring services which have not been regulated on-island into the remit of the Health and Social Care inspection team.

'Enhance child safeguarding'

It also proposes changes to current requirements for daycare services to register and pay an annual fee to the Department for Health and Social Care's Registration and inspection team.

The change would see the age of children increased from eight to 12 for day care service providers required to register and pay, which the government said would "enhance child safeguarding."

Services such as after-school activities, holiday clubs, sport, activity and youth clubs could also face further regulation under the move.

A six-week consultation, external, which will run until 3 October, has been launched before the bill goes to the branches of Tynwald for consideration.

Feedback is being sought on how often inspections should be held for lower risk services along with which identification should be required to enforce a minimum age for cosmetic procedures.

The consultation also seeks views on plans to ensure cosmetic practitioners provide clear information about a procedure, its risks and side effects, as well as making a commitment to using only approved and regulated products.