Anyone considering aesthetic procedures should do plenty of research on what treatment they want and the person who will be performing it.

You should check your practitioner has their claimed qualifications, for doctors you can look on the GMC register and nurses have a nursing register, the NMC. Make sure they are registered, qualified and keeping up to date. Ask how long they have been in the industry, and how many procedures they have undertaken? Look at their before and after pictures. If they have none, then they don’t have the experience.

You want to choose an aesthetic practitioner who has a medical background, ideally a doctor, nurse or dentist. You want someone who works in aesthetics full time. A full-time nurse in aesthetics will have more skill injecting fillers than a neurosurgical consultant who works full time in the NHS and does a bit of aesthetics on the side.

There are registers that you can go to who list practitioners and ensure they are safe, fully qualified, and practising in a suitable premises. You can check out sites such as “Save Face” and Alice Hart- Davis’ “Tweakments guide”, to find someone near you.

Don’t be fooled by flashy social media sites or location. Anyone can create an impressive social media presence by using pictures that are not their own. Also, you don’t need any qualifications to get a room on Harley Street. You still need to check all their credentials. A room on Harley street does not make you a good doctor.

Care also needs to be undertaken when having treatments with machines. There are many cheap imported machines out there which at best simple don’t deliver the promised result, at worst can cause permanent scarring or skin damage. Always check your medical machines are FDA cleared and CE marked. These are your safety stamps of approval for medical devices, which reassure you that your machine is safe and effective.

Hampton Clinic is owned by a medical doctor, Dr Hill, who works alongside 4 very experienced beauty therapists. Dr Hill offers all the standard aesthetic procedures, such as Botox and fillers, but she has also invested in many high-performance machines for both beauty and aesthetic treatments. All her machines have FDA clearance and CE marking.  The therapists offer IPL, Laser hair removal, electrolysis, Hydrafacial, as well as massages and manicures. Dr Hill also offers Ultherapy (ultrasound facelifts) and Coolsculpting which is fat freezing. Dr Hill has become the leading Coolsculpting Doctor in the UK due to her phenomenal success with her body contouring services. She also specialising in dermatology, offering the world leading medical grade skincare ZO.

All consultations with Dr Hill are free, clients are presented with a treatment plan, clear pricing and then allowed time to reflect on the options. Treatments are not carried out on the same day as the consultation, as this is against GMC guidelines, and good medical practice. Medical treatments are not discounted, as it is unethical to incentivise.