Cosmetic surgery chain raises eyebrows with Mother's Day offers

By Kate Foster


MANY mothers waking up this morning will be hoping for breakfast in bed, a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates.

But a major cosmetic surgery chain has sparked a row by launching a more controversial gift, offering customers a £50 discount if they buy medical beauty treatments as a Mother's Day present.

The body that represents the industry said last night tADVERTISEMENThe move was "unethical" because it used discounts to encourage patients to undergo a medical procedure.

Transform, which has clinics in Edinburgh and Glasgow, is offering the cut-price deal on non-surgical procedures such as Botox and fillers for lines and wrinkles, chemical peels and microdermabrasion for skin rejuvenation as well as lip enhancements and laser hair removal.

The firm says it launched the promotion to encourage mothers and daughters to undergo treatments together as a "girlie" day out.

Under the rules of the promotion, customers buying a minimum of £50 worth of gift vouchers for Mother's Day can receive £50 off their own treatment.

Typical prices for non-surgical procedures range from £200 for a lip enhancement to £300 for laser hair removal and £400 for Botox.

A spokeswoman said: "We are trying to encourage more women to come in with their mothers. It's a very girlie thing to do, they can follow each other as they get their results."

But industry body the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) criticised the move, which it warned goes against best practice guidelines for cosmetic surgery.

Douglas McGeorge, a consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS officer, said gift vouchers are a cynical sales ploy. He added: "It's everything that goes against normal, ethical principles in medicine.

"The idea for surgery should come from the person who intends to have the procedure, not from a well-meaning spouse, friend or relative," he added.

"The procedures should be done for the patient's benefit, not the clinic's. Benefits, limitations and complications of all procedures should be taken aboard fully before a commitment is made."

He went on: "Non-surgical procedures are still medical procedures and best practice guidelines for cosmetic surgery state that patients should not be offered discounts linked to a deadline date."

Taimur Shoaib, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Glasgow Nuffield Hospital, said most clinics did not advertise cut price offers.

He said: "Even minimally-invasive treatments are an important life-making decision that should be made after due consideration.

"People should not be pressurised into making decisions based on price alone."

Transform's spokeswoman denied it was behaving unethically. She said: "We don't incentivise surgical offers because it would be unethical, but this is viable. People see this as an extension of their beauty routine, one step up from a leg wax, and if they don't need the treatment we would tell them. We get lots of requests for gift vouchers."

Transform has previously run into trouble for offering Botox through a mail-order clothing catalogue and offering interest-free loans for surgery such as facelifts and liposuction at its clinics.

There have also been concerns about the safety of some non-surgical procedures. Some experts believe Botox, the commercial name for Botulinum neurotoxin type A, one of the world's most powerful poisons, may spread beyond the site of injection.


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