Clinic moves breast surgery to Queensland to avoid ban
A WESTERN Sydney GP whose unlicensed clinic has been ordered to stop performing cosmetic surgery is now trying to lure women to the Gold Coast.
NSW
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A WESTERN Sydney GP whose unlicensed clinic has been ordered to stop performing cosmetic surgery is now trying to lure women to the Gold Coast.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said last night he would write to his state and territory counterparts to discuss introducing nationally consistent regulations for clinics after The Daily Telegraph told him that GP Les Blackstock is encouraging women to fly to the Gold Coast for surgery.
The Saturday Telegraph revealed Dr Blackstock’s Enhance Clinic at Emu Plains was offering breast surgery even though NSW Health had sent it cease and desist letters.
Following the story, Enhance Clinic posted a statement on its website claiming “to deliver safe breast implants outside a licensed Day Surgery in NSW”.
The statement said it would be able to offer a “heavier sedation level” on the Gold Coast.
Mr Hazzard said it was an “exercise in self justification and avoidance of safety regulations in NSW”.
“I certainly want every NSW resident to be on high alert not to go anywhere near this clinic,” he said.
Mr Hazzard said he was “particularly disturbed” that Enhance Clinic was trying to lure women to the Gold Coast where safety regulations around anaesthetic and licensing were less strict.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal Mr Blackstock has written to NSW Health to argue he is not performing “breast augmentations” because he is not making breasts bigger but “replacing shape and volume”.
Under new regulations introduced in NSW earlier this year any clinic undertaking breast augmentations requires a licence.
“Trying to argue that doing work on women’s breasts doesn’t amount to breast augmentation is to my mind off the planet,” Mr Hazzard said.
Australian Society of Anaesthetists president Professor David Scott said the lack of consistency in laws around sedation and licensing was putting patients at risk.
Professor Scott said Dr Blackstock was “exploiting a loophole” by advertising cosmetic surgery.
He said the “tumescent anaesthesia” method being promoted by Dr Blackstock could be very dangerous.
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“If you’re getting a procedure like a breast augmentation you should be going to see a plastic surgeon who will operate in a hospital with a specialised anaesthetist who is trained to know what to do when something goes wrong.”
NSW Health is investigating Enhance Clinic and has made a formal complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission.
“Conducting cosmetic surgery at unlicensed premises in NSW is unlawful under state legislation and anyone who does so faces a penalty of up to $550,000,” a NSW Health spokesman said.
Dr Blackstock could not be reached for comment.
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