CHANGES in the way the cosmetic surgery industry is regulated are being proposed after a procedure left a former beautician unable to close her eyes.

Dawn Knight, 48, from Stanley in County Durham, feared she would go blind after her £3,500 eye lift operation in 2012.

The mother-of-two now has to use drops every two hours to stop her eyes from drying out, and sleeps using a thick ointment, which means she is unable to see until it is washed out in the morning.

Surgeon Arnaldo Paganelli carried out the treatment at the Dolan Park Hospital in Birmingham after Mrs Knight responded to an advert placed by The Hospital Group.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones raised her case in the House of Commons on Wednesday and hopes to tighten up the law to protect people in future.

He told the House: “The surgery was sold to her with a life time after-care package to take care of any complications from the procedure.

“Despite contacting the Hospital Group no further help was offered, making the promise of life time after-care a sham.

“Like in many similar cases, the NHS is now having to pick up the bill for Dawn’s on-going care.”

Mrs Knight lives with her husband Graham, 49, who runs a double glazing business, and has two teenage sons.

Mr Jones said: “Though the Hospital Group promotes itself as a cosmetic surgery company, along with its associated companies, it is nothing of the sort.

“Rather, it is a facilities management company, simply providing the facilities where the surgery takes place and marketing the procedures.

“As Dawn found out when she complained, her contract was not with the Hospital Group, but with the surgeon who performed the procedure, and was told it was her responsibility to check his GMC registration and insurance.

“In Dawn’s case her surgeon was a bankrupt, under-insured individual who based himself in Italy and flew into the UK to work at Hospital Group Hospitals.”

Mr Jones’ ten minute rule bill already has the backing of several MPs and has been listed for a second reading.

A spokesman for The Hospital Group said: “We reviewed the information available at the time that Ms Knight raised her concerns and we have evidence that directly contradicts the claims made by Ms Knight.

“We take our obligations to our patients with the utmost seriousness and do our very best to ensure patients are cared for both during and after any medical procedure by maintaining the highest standards of care. In the latest patient satisfaction audit conducted at our Dolan Park facility, 93 per cent of respondents rated our service as ‘excellent to good’.”