Regulation of minor surgery in private facilities

From 1 July 2018, amendments were made to the Health Services (Health Service Establishments) Regulations 2013 (the Regulations) and Health Services Act 1988.

The definition of day procedure centre in the Act was amended to remove the ‘major activity’ requirement. This means that any of the health services prescribed in the Regulations must be performed in a registered facility and cannot be performed in unregistered facilities, even if the service is not a ‘major activity’ of the facility.

There are many kinds of surgery that clearly meet the definition of surgery and should therefore be conducted in a registered facility. These include several cosmetic procedures detailed in this document.