Phase Three

A Framwork, a Home, and a Way Forward

Phase Three: From Ideas to Evidence

This is where theory gets tested.
Phase Three of The Skin Well sets out the case for a national Skin Health Framework — one that is fluid, functional, and rooted in public protection. This phase doesn’t just argue for change — it asks the right questions, builds the right team, and begins the work of evidence-gathering.

It’s made up of three sections:

1. The Case for a Skin Health Framework

Why we need a new structure for skin education, regulation, and public guidance — and why a national, flexible framework is more effective than licensing alone.

2. Building the Task Force

A call to bring together medics, non-medics, educators, regulators, NHS voices, and public advocates — not just for enforcement, but for design.
This isn’t about punishment. It’s about getting skin right, for everyone.

3. What the Task Force Must Cover

The research. The missing data. The gaps we need to close.
From inconsistent licensing and missing skin measurements to the real-world impact of protected titles and public health messaging — this section maps what still needs to be tested before national policy can be built.

Throughout this page, four core pillars are presented — each with associated questions and structural gaps. To avoid breaking up the flow, the full list of research proposals and practical next steps sits at the end of the page, under the Phase 3 Framework section.

🔎 You can explore the proposed research directly by visiting:

Section One: A Case for a Skin Health Framework

Why the public deserves better — and how to structure it

Skin is one of the most visible signs of health.
It’s where lifestyle, stress, illness, and environment show up first.
Yet when it comes to our national health system, skin is still seen as secondary — cosmetic, optional, or only relevant at the point of disease.

That approach has consequences.

People struggling with flare-ups are bounced between GPs and pharmacists with limited training.
Preventable conditions like acne scarring, eczema exacerbation, or infection are left unmanaged.
And those trying to care for their skin are left to guess — or worse, follow misleading online advice.

But the UK already has thousands of skin care professionals supporting the public every day with this work.
They’re not dermatologists.
They’re not doctors.
But neither are pharmacy technicians, dental therapists, or play therapists — all of whom are now recognised, regulated, and included in public health structures.

So the question is not: “Are skin therapists medical?”
The question is: “Why have they been excluded — and what would change if they weren’t?”

Because if we accept, as we now must, that skin is health — diseased or not — then the people already doing the work must become part of the solution.

They’re already there. Supporting clients day in, day out. Helping people understand their skin, maintain its barrier, identify triggers, recover from flare-ups, and feel confident in themselves again.

That’s not cosmetic. That’s public.

We already have the tools to make this work.
We’ve seen frameworks built for pharmacists. Dental therapists. Play therapists. Physiotherapists. Mental health support workers. And in every case, the principle is the same:

The public are best served when the work is clear, the training is consistent, and the system is structured to reflect the reality of people’s lives.

This is not idealism. It’s structure. And it works in every other area of health.

But in skin, we’ve taken the opposite path.

We’ve introduced advanced treatments before setting the educational baseline.
We’re intending to license businesses, not people.
We’ve created a fragmented system of training — with no formal checks between what’s taught, what’s advertised, and what’s delivered.
And when harm occurs, we send people to the GP… or increasingly, to a pharmacist who’s done a Boots training module.

All the while, the professionals already supporting skin day to day — the therapists, facialists, skin practitioners, beauty professionals with Level 3+ education and thousands of hours of hands-on experience — remain invisible to the system. Unrecognised, unprotected, unregulated.

It’s not just unjust.
It’s unworkable.

That’s why The Skin Well® is calling for a skin health framework.

Not just to protect therapists.
But to protect the public — by ensuring that the skin advice and interventions people receive are evidence-aligned, clearly communicated, and competently delivered.

To do that, we need a joined-up system that can:

  • Embed public health messaging around skin at every life stage

  • Ensure training and education is aligned across all levels

  • Introduce regulation and oversight that fits the work

  • Create protected roles and routes the public can trust

The goal isn’t to replace dermatology. It’s to reduce the burden on it — by supporting prevention, early intervention, and skin literacy at a public level.

And that starts by recognising who’s already doing the work.

What will a framework achieve?

  • Public clarity: People will know who to trust and where to turn.

  • Educational consistency: From support roles to advanced practice, skin-facing professionals will be trained in the same foundational skin knowledge.

  • Professional integrity: Oversight will be based on the work being done — not just the title someone holds.

  • Reduced burden: Dermatologists and GPs will be able to focus on complex and acute care, while trained skin professionals support everyday barrier health and behaviour change.

  • Shared language: The same messages will reach people from every point of contact — whether NHS, private, pharmacist, or practitioner.

The Skin Well® has built its campaign on four clear priorities — or pillars:

  1. Skin is health.

  2. Education must reflect that.

  3. Oversight must match the risk.

  4. The public must know who to trust.

But a framework can only work if it has somewhere to live.
It needs structure. Leadership. A place where decisions can be made — not just discussed.
That’s why the next step isn’t just policy. It’s design.

Section Two: Building The Task Force

Why the Framework needs a formal home

Why Now Matters
The UK health system is being restructured — with NHS England’s functions absorbed into the Department of Health and Social Care, and new commissioning models taking shape.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to embed skin into public health frameworks, regulation, and workforce planning.

Skin cannot be left out again.

Before the Task Force: Getting the Structure Right

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is right to call for urgent action. The UK aesthetics sector is riddled with unsafe practice, unregulated tools, online substances, and misleading marketing. A Ministerial-led task force is a strong proposal—but only if the structure is right from the start.

Before new working groups or regulatory committees are launched, we need a shared foundation:
What decisions are being made—and who is qualified to make them?

The Skin Well® supports many of the CTSI’s asks, agreeing that:

  • High-risk procedures like glutathione IV drips should not be accessible online or administered by untrained individuals

  • Consistent UK-wide legislation is urgently needed

  • A government task force, with Ministerial oversight, could help coordinate real change

But without a shared framework, any task force risks repeating the same fragmented, reactive approach.

What Should a Skin Health Task Force Include?

Before forming new bodies, we need to establish the scope of work. The Skin Well® believes four national pillars should guide any future task group:

  1. Public Skin Health Messaging
    Consistent, evidence-based advice on how to care for skin, reduce risk, and understand skin’s role in overall health

  2. Skin Health Education
    Agreed standards for training across all skin-facing roles—from Level 3 therapists to medical aesthetics—aligned to skin as a health organ

  3. National Regulation
    A joined-up structure that protects the public and the profession—not just treatments or tools

  4. Protected Titles
    Legal clarity around who can use the titles skin therapist and beauty therapist, so the public know who they can trust

Who Should Be Involved?

To build a trusted national home for skin, these voices must be involved:

  1. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – to anchor this as a health issue, not just a service industry concern

  2. Public health officials – to ensure alignment with national prevention strategies

  3. Dermatologists and medical professionals – for medical safety, referral, and diagnostic boundaries

  4. Qualified skin therapists – for real-world, non-medical expertise in skin barrier care and long-term support

  5. Cosmetic scientists and ingredient regulators – to assess safety, efficacy, and formulation standards

  6. Education bodies – including awarding bodies (e.g. VTCT, ITEC), colleges, and universities

  7. National Occupational Standards writers (e.g. HABIA) – to ensure alignment and improvement of NOS

  8. Trading Standards and online sales specialists – to help close the gaps in unsafe retail sourcing

  9. Representatives from the devolved nations – to reflect the full UK landscape and support unified strategy

  10. Public voices – including individuals who have experienced harm, confusion, or lack of access

  11. Consumer safety groups and advocacy organisations – to protect public trust and transparency

The current structure excludes too many. It does not yet reflect the people who work with skin day in, day out—especially those outside of NHS settings, but within the public health pathway.

A Case for Clarity—Before Action

We do not need another working group with no shared foundation.

We need a government-endorsed structure—based on the four pillars above—that enables decisions to be made in the public’s interest, with the right evidence, and the right voices represented.

Let’s get the structure right.
Then we build.

What happens next matters.
If the structure is right, this isn’t just a task force in name — it becomes the place where evidence, accountability, and public need finally meet.
That’s why Phase Three of The Skin Well® campaign focuses not just on making the case, but on building the tools to test it.

Section Three: What the Task Force Must Cover

Four national priorities — and the research questions they raise

If a national skin health task force is to succeed, it needs more than urgency. It needs clarity.

The Skin Well proposes a four-pillar structure to guide that work — one that reflects how skin really functions across public health, education, regulation, and trust.

Each pillar raises important questions.
And Phase Three is about finding the answers.

🟨 Pillar 1: Skin in Public Health Messaging
Does earlier intervention reduce the prevalence and severity of skin conditions? Could better public guidance reduce GP appointments, disability claims, or flare-ups triggered by poor home care?

🟡 → [View research proposals related to Pillar 1]

🟦 Pillar 2: Skin Education for All Levels
Does consistent education across Levels 2–7 lead to better public outcomes? If everyone — from support staff to advanced therapists to aesthetics GPs — were trained in consistent, evidence-based skin education, would it lead to better public understanding, safer practice, and improved outcomes?

🔵 → [View research proposals related to Pillar 2]

🟥 Pillar 3: Oversight and Regulation
Does trust improve when regulation is in place? Are patients better protected when practitioners are accountable to a single, skin-specific regulatory body? Right now, skin work happens across a fragmented system. Without shared oversight, risk to the public increases — and so does confusion across the profession. Could unified regulation reduce harm, close gaps, and create clearer, safer standards for everyone involved?

🔴 → [View research proposals related to Pillar 3]

🟩 Pillar 4: Protected Titles and Public Confidence
Does title protection help the public know who to trust? Would recognising skin therapists and beauty therapists as legally protected roles give the public a clear route to safe, early support? If people knew who to turn to — practitioners trained to national standards — could we prevent some conditions from developing or worsening?

🟢 → [View research proposals related to Pillar 4]

These pillars can hold the weight of change — but only if sectors come together to act on what the evidence reveals, and to build skin policy that works.

 The Skin Well®
A grassroots, evidence-aware initiative supporting public skin education.
👉 @theskinwell_

Disclaimer

A Clear Case for National Skin Health is part of an independent advocacy series by The Skin Well®. These pieces are written from lived professional experience and personal reflection. They are intended to raise questions, highlight gaps, and explore opportunities for public health improvement.

They do not replace professional medical advice, and they do not represent the views of the NHS or any governmental body.

It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have concerns about your skin or health, please speak with your GP or a qualified healthcare provider.

I welcome constructive feedback. If you notice any information that may be inaccurate or outdated, please let me know so I can review and improve.

© 2025 Jacqui de Jager | The Skin Well® & The Happy Skin Clinic®
All rights reserved. This leaflet is for personal use and education only. It may not be reproduced, distributed, or adapted without written permission.