Dr Fazel Fatah, plastic surgeon and president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), has called the cross-selling of procedures “unethical”.

Talking to the BBC, Dr Fatah issued a stark warning that lines are becoming dangerously blurred between surgical and non-surgical treatments. The surgeon compared choosing an unregulated clinic to have either type of procedure, to trusting your boiler to an unqualified engineer.

The number of people choosing to have Botox and face lifts for example is rising rapidly and with this in mind Dr Fatah is worried that cosmetic treatments are trivialising serious surgical operations.

“While you may think there is nothing unethical about encouraging customers to buy two items from a shop when they intend to buy one only, it is highly unethical to cross sell serious medical procedures to an unwitting customer when she or he goes simply to have a non-invasive beauty treatment or injections to reduce wrinkles”, says Dr Fatah.

And it is with this in mind that patients are reminded of the importance of choosing a regulated and ethical provider, whether they are opting for surgical or non-surgical procedures.