NMC concerned about alleged illegal botox prescribing

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) wants the BBC to share more information from its investigation into a former nurse and a suspended nurse alleged to have been prescribing botox illegally.

The broadcaster said the two men held 'botox parties' in homes and beauty salons for people who wanted botox injections to tackle wrinkles.

One of the men, James Kearsey, was suspended by the NMC in 2015 for hiding an assault conviction. The BBC filmed him holding a consultation in his home and telling an undercover reporter that he was a nurse consultant.

He sterilised the reporter's forehead and was about to inject her before she told him she felt sick and left.

The investigation also followed former nurse Jonathan Henk, who was struck off by the NMC in 2012 for having sex with a mental health service user without her consent.

According to the BBC, a patient of Mr Henk's, Diane Roberts, said she was left with severe headaches after being injected by Mr Henk with a substance that did not get rid of her wrinkles.

Both men are alleged to have been making thousands of pounds a week despite having been ordered to stop prescribing medicine.

Botox, or botulinum toxin, should only be prescribed by registered practitioners.

A NMC spokesperson said: ‘As Mr Kearsey is temporarily suspended from the register, he should not be undertaking any activity that would be done by a registered nurse, including prescribing medicines.

‘In relation to Mr Henk who has been struck off the register, he should not be undertaking any activity that would require him to be on the professional register, including prescribing medicines. To do so is a criminal offence.

'We have asked the BBC to provide us with further information so that we can consider whether we need to report this serious allegation to the police.’