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New UK National silicone database will help avoid boobs

20,000 cases of implant surgery to be held

A national silicone breast implant database is to be created to ensure faulty products can be traced in the event of a product recall.

The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR) is intended to prevent a repeat of faulty Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) silicone breast implants scandal in 2010, in which fraudulently manufactured silicone gel implants affected thousands of women.

Its establishment is in response to recommendation 21 in Sir Bruce Keogh's Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic interventions, which called for a cosmetic implant registry "to provide better monitoring of patient outcomes and device safety".

Poor record-keeping by some providers meant that many women were unable to find out if they had the faulty implants, and in some cases women could not be contacted where providers had gone out of business.

Explicit consent from patients will be required to add their details to the registry in addition to the usual consent for the surgical procedure.

The registry is expected to record more than 20,000 cases of implant surgery annually. Reporting of data will be done by the provider, via an online portal.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We want the NHS to be the safest healthcare system in the world and anyone who chooses to have a cosmetic procedure has the right to safe care.

"The PIP breast implant scandal in 2010 affected thousands of people which is why we asked NHS Digital to develop a new register which will allow people to be traced swiftly if that is ever needed." ®

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