Clinical evidence for the on-site prescriber requirement SP Bill 77: FOI release

Information requested

"Please provide all clinical evidence, reports, systematic reviews, or expert opinions obtained or relied upon by the Scottish Government in support of the requirement that a supervising prescriber be physically present during Group 2 and Group 3 non-surgical cosmetic procedures. "

In considering this request an assumption has been made that the request refers to the requirements that flow from Sections 3 and 4 of the Non-Surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers Bill 2026 (“the Bill”), which is available as passed on the Scottish Parliament website. This assumption is made despite the fact that the requirement is not present in the Bill in the form you have described, but it is sufficiently clear that this is likely to be your intention. This response sets out the nature of the requirement, alongside other assumptions made in identifying material in scope of this request.

Sections 3 and 4 of the Bill require procedures regulated by the Bill (n.b. the terms Group 2 and Group 3 do not appear in the Bill, and no equivalent distinction is made between those procedures in the Bill) to be undertaken in a “permitted premises”, which includes a HIS clinic whose services are provided or managed by certain healthcare professionals all of which are independent prescribers, and several other settings in which such professionals are likely to be present. In turn HIS regulated settings are subject to the requirement that they “ensure that at all times a suitably qualified health care professional is working within the independent health care service whilst service users are present”. (Regulation 12(b) of the The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Requirements as to Independent Health Care Services) Regulations 2011). Taken together, this means that HIS clinics in which procedures are undertaken will be subject to a requirement similar to that described. Other settings are also capable of being “permitted premises”, and these are settings where one of the same professionals are likely to be present.

Although not explicitly required by the Bill, it is the Scottish Government’s intention that the procedures in the Bill are indeed undertaken while a prescribing healthcare professional is present. This intention was adopted by the Scottish Government in its response, published on June 2025, to the Consultation on the Licensing and Regulation of Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures, undertaken between 20 December 2024 and 14 February 2025 (“the consultation response” and “the consultation” respectively). The terms “Group 2” and “Group 3” derive from the consultation and the consultation response, although in this case Group 3 procedures are those where the intention is that the procedure should be undertaken by an “appropriate healthcare professional”. The broad intention in relation to procedures regulated by the Bill was reiterated during the Bill process, including by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health in the final debate on the Bill at Stage 3, who said:

“It is crucial that the procedures that are regulated by the bill are delivered in safe, hygienic settings, where providers have support from healthcare professionals and access to emergency medications where required.”

In considering your request the Scottish Government has assumed that the relevant material will relate not only to the decision to include relevant provisions in the Bill (“Decision point 2”), but also to the earlier decision to adopt the policy position set out in the response, in Summer 2026, to the consultation on the regulation and licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures (“Decision point 1”).

In relation to the two decision points outlined above, the decisions relevant to this request were taken by Scottish Ministers. These decisions were taken alongside a range of other decisions relevant to the consultation response and the Bill and informed by advice provided to them. This advice did not necessarily take the form of “clinical evidence, reports, systematic reviews, or expert opinions”. In consideration of the responsibility under Section 15 of FOISA to provide advice and assistance to requesters, an expansive view has been taken of the advice provided to ministers and its relevance, rather than limiting through a strict interpretation of the categories you have described. In considering this response it has also been necessary to make a judgement on which information was “obtained or relied on” and is therefore in scope of your request. Not all information held by the Scottish Government that is relevant to the question of the physical presence of certain healthcare professionals is necessarily in scope, as it may not have been obtained in support of the decision nor relied on in that decision. In general, information that has been considered to be in scope is that information that has been provided to ministers, or which is significant enough that it is likely to have been relied on or informed briefings to ministers (including oral briefings, the content of which may not have been recorded). Because of the judgements required, Annex A provides a fuller explanation of the selections of material released than might otherwise have been the case, and provides additional information on material otherwise accessible.

Response

I enclose a copy of information relevant to your request. I have provided information, building on the assumptions above, on the information that ministers may have relied upon at the two Decision Points described in Annex A. Annex B encloses documents and extracts of documents which are relevant to this request, with one further document attached separately.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why exemptions apply are explained in Annex A.

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The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202600510956 - Information Released - Annex

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