Will the Welsh Government outline what training environmental health officers receive for tattoo studio assessments, and were infection prevention specialists with studio experience consulted to ensure consistent guidance?
A senior Environmental Health Officer was seconded to the Welsh Government for the purpose of raising awareness of the legislation with different industry stakeholders, which included local authorities. The secondee also provided extensive support and training for local authority officers on the application of the legislation, as well as leading a community of practice for environmental health officers. Local authorities continue to discuss interpretation of the legislation and consistency of approach through their own established networks.
A number of webinars and events were held at the end of 2023 and early 2024, some specific to local authorities and others for practitioners. An in-person event was held for local authority officers in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, which included practical workshops with practitioners, which included semi-permanent makeup. Training webinars were also held in partnership with Public Health Wales (PHW), one of which concentrated on infection prevention and control, available on its website. PHW was also commissioned to produce a guidance document about infection prevention and control specific to special procedures, the main author of which is a lead nurse specialist in infection prevention and control. PHW consulted a range of people to produce that guidance, which included practitioners.
As semi-permanent makeup and tattooing were included in the registration scheme that preceded the licensing scheme, local authority officers already have experience of inspecting such businesses and assessing their infection prevention and control procedures.