Beauty treatments such as chemical peels and Botox injections might seem like minor procedures and even ‘safe’, because they are non-surgical.

Non-surgical cosmetic procedures are increasing in popularity as people strive to make themselves look as good as they possibly can.

But having any sort of non-surgical beauty treatment still needs to be given serious consideration. If a treatment were to go wrong it can lead to serious and even permanent injuries.

The perception is that a non-surgical procedure is less risky than going under the knife, but it is not that black and white. If you were to have a surgical cosmetic procedure in the UK, then you could expect your surgeon to be trained, qualified, and regulated. But people carrying out non-surgical treatments do not have to have specific training or qualifications to carry out invasive procedures.

Non-surgical cosmetic treatments have hit the headlines after the tragic death of mum-of-five Alice Webb, who is thought to be the first person to die in the UK after undergoing a suspected non-surgical ‘liquid’ Brazilian butt lift (BBL).

A BBL is a treatment to make buttocks bigger, more rounded or lifted. It can be done as a surgical or non-surgical procedure and both are not illegal in the UK. Non-surgical BBLs, like the one Ms Webb is thought to have had, involves injecting dermal filler into the buttocks.

Suffering complications after non-surgical liquid BBL procedures happens more often than you might think says Save Face, which administrates a Government-approved register of accredited practitioners carrying out non-surgical cosmetic treatments.

Save Face has helped more than 500 women who have suffered complications because of liquid BBL treatments, many of which have nearly died. More than 50 per cent of the cases reported contracting sepsis and 39 per cent needed corrective surgery.

APIL members have seen people left with life-changing injuries after a non-surgical procedure has been botched, including victims left with severe and permanent scarring to their faces after chemical peels and one who suffered abscesses causing their skin to die after fat injections went wrong.

If clients are injured due to negligent beauty treatments, they need to be able to seek compensation to support their recovery, so far as possible, and get their lives back on track.

APIL has told the Department of Health and Social Care that practitioners carrying out such non-surgical beauty treatments should have mandatory public liability insurance, as well as treatment risk insurance. This way it will ensure businesses have the appropriate level of cover to meet a claim if negligent treatment leads to a client being injured. Without it, victims struggle to find the route to redress they need.

All practitioners and their premises also need to be licensed and part of a national register, with severe penalties for unlicensed practitioners not on the register who carried out treatments. This measure will reassure clients that they are in safe and skilled hands.