Superdrug’s Hammersmith, London, branch is the latest to offer a “skin renew service” – which includes Botox, dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections from £99 – following the launch of the service last year in The Strand, London, the multiple announced last week (August 2).

The treatments are administered by a nurse following an hour-long consultation, which assesses whether treatment is appropriate based on a patient’s answers to a questionnaire, Superdrug said.

Four months after The Strand launch, Superdrug was prompted by NHS England to introduce mental health checks for its Botox patients, to do more to protect customers from body image pressures.

Superdrug said last week that the service – which has since been rolled out to another branch, in Manchester Piccadilly – now follows the multiple’s “stringent protocols”.

This includes “all Superdrug nurse prescribers being specialists in prescribing and administering aesthetic medicines and all services being undertaken in registered premises”, it explained.

“If a nurse practitioner has any concerns about the patient’s mental health, they will refer them to their GP,” Superdrug added.

“Satisfied customers”

Superdrug head of health and wellbeing services Caris Newson said: “Since the launch of our skin renew service in 2018 we have seen high levels of customer satisfaction.

“We’re listening to what people are telling us: they would like the reassurance that if they choose to have aesthetic treatments, then it will be administered by qualified nurse practitioners in a safe, private consultation room.”

According to Superdrug’s analysis of the first year of the service, one in five of all patients treated were male, with the most common age group being 45-49 year olds, while the most common age of female patients was 50-54 years.

Superdrug’s health and wellbeing ambassador Pixie McKenna warned the increase in popularity of aesthetic treatments has “unfortunately” coincided with a rise in the number of people “claiming to be expert practitioners in the field”.

“It is surprising how many people engage in these services, without having a full understanding of the qualifications or competence of the person carrying it out,” she said.

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