WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR APPOINTMENT DURING CURRENT RESTRICTIONS

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Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your on-going support over the last few months. Thank you for your likes, loves and follows on social media and for purchasing gift vouchers and block treatment packages. I am very much looking forward to getting back to treating you and many others, as it’s certainly been a difficult time and many will have suffered from the absence of human touch and interaction. 

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My overriding focus has been on protecting myself, my clients and all of our loved ones. This means that I will need to work differently, keeping focused on hygiene control and ensuring I work within the regulations and guidance. I can then concentrate on what I do best which is treating you safely and effectively. 

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To this end, I will be coming back slowly to get used to a new way of working and to allow myself time to adjust things that may or may not be working. Having worked in a health setting for a long time, I am fully trained on hygiene control and I have been working hard over the last few weeks to ensure that my own practice is as safe as possible. I have embarked on extra training, completed detailed risk assessments and have followed all of the advice and guidance from my professional association, local health authority and insurers.

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Please keep reading to understand what changes have been made and how this will affect you. This information will be emailed to you upon booking your appointment.

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It is important that you provide an email address when booking your appointment. This is so that I can email you a new client registration form and a Covid-19 risk assessment form for you to complete and return to me online; without which I will not be able to welcome you back for treatments. I appreciate that some of you would have already been asked many of the questions in the registration form, but by completing it online for me I am able to move away from paper notes, reducing the risk of cross-infection from using paper forms and utilise a safe, online system maintaining GDPR standards. The Covid-19 risk assessment form will need to be completed before each appointment and should be submitted the day before your appointment.

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BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT:

• If you have booked and paid for an appointment with me before, you will already have a payment card set up with FRESHA. If you haven’t then;

• All bookings arranged through my booking system, FRESHA, will require you to register a payment card upon booking so that when your appointment is completed, payment will be taken contactlessly. (Please note, you will not be charged prior to your appointment).  

• If you book your appointment directly with me, you will be sent a message asking you to confirm your appointment with a payment card so that when your appointment is completed, payment will be taken contactlessly. (Please note, you will not be charged prior to your appointment).

• Card payment is preferable but if you are paying with cash, please put the correct amount in an envelope.

• I have always found that carrying out a face to face consultation with new clients extremely beneficial in developing a positive rapport and building on our client/therapist relationship. This helps you to feel relaxed for your appointments and confident in my ability to treat you effectively by tailoring your treatment to what you want and need. I prefer to do this rather than asking you to complete a form by yourselves. 

• However, due to the current circumstances we need to reduce the amount of time communicating face to face. Therefore, I will be conducting consultations prior to your appointment. These can be over the telephone or by video link using Zoom or WhatsApp. Video link is especially preferable for new clients so that we have the opportunity to build a relationship and I can also make a visual postural assessment if necessary. 

• If you book your appointment online, I will contact you to arrange a suitable time for a consultation. If you book your appointment directly with me, we can arrange this together. It will be during the day before your planned appointment to ensure that all information gathered is relevant and up to date.

 

AT YOUR APPOINTMENT: 

• On arrival to your appointment, if you are early please either wait in your car or safely outside until your appointment time. 

• I will open the door for you so you don’t need to touch the door or handle. 

• Alcohol gel will be provided you when you arrive and before you leave. 

• Please leave anything that you don’t need safely in your car as there will be a small plastic tub for you to place all of your belongings in ie. shoes and clothes. This will allow me to effectively disinfect the tub between each client. 

• I will leave the room whilst you undress and again after your treatment so that you can take a couple of minutes to compose yourself and get dressed again. I will re-enter the room once you are comfortable on the couch in a prone (face-down) position.

• We would have already carried out a consultation so will have a treatment plan in place, but please let me know prior to your appointment (by text message or briefly when you arrive), if this has changed or if you would like your treatment to be different to what was discussed previously. I totally understand that you may have woken up that day feeling different in yourself or with a new ache or pain so rest assured that whatever you need on the day you will get!

• After each client, I will thoroughly disinfect the clinic area to include door handles, floor, box for belongings, massage couch and face cradle and anywhere contact has been made. 

• I will provide clean linen for each client with the previous linen having been removed safely to be washed appropriately. 

• I won’t be providing drinking water for the time being so it would be advisable for you to bring your own vessel and drink if required. 

• My professional body has stipulated that VENTILATION and TIME are the primary factors in managing the spread of the virus within our industry and PPE is secondary. This is because we cannot rely on people using PPE as expected, so ventilation and time reduction is the main focus. Therefore, the room may be cooler than normal but I will do my absolute best to ensure you remain relaxed and comfortable. It may be advisable to wear stretchy, comfortable trousers so that you can remain warm if your treatment concentrates on the upper body. If it is a sunny day, then I will be able to keep the windows and doors open with the curtains and blinds for privacy.

• I have extended the time between each client to ensure thorough cleaning and ventilation.

• Treatment times have also had to be reduced. I am allowed to treat hands-on for a maximum of 45 minutes. This is to reduce the amount of time I am spending with one person in close contact. This won’t differ from a normal 1 hour appointment as it does not include time for undressing/dressing; the 45 minutes is actual hands-on treatment time. so the hourly rate of £40 remains and also includes consultation time prior to your appointment as detailed above and any follow up/homecare contact that is required post-treatment.  

• From August 8th you are required to wear a face covering. As part of my individual risk assessment this will NOT apply when in prone (face-down but applies in all other positions and when you arrive and leave for your appointment. (This is new legislation released on the 31st July by gov.uk) 

 

AFTER YOUR APPOINTMENT:

• I will be using the NHS Track & Trace APP as soon as it becomes available. 

• But for now in all instances, I am obligated to report any of the below to the Health Protection Team if;

• I become infected or show symptoms,

• Someone within my household becomes infected or shows symptoms,

• You (the client) becomes infected or shows symptom,

• Someone within your (the clients) household becomes infected or shows symptoms.

• You must contact me immediately should this be the case so that I can report it for tracking and tracing purposes and I can inform anyone that I have treated within 7 days either side of you.

• I will contact you immediately should myself or anyone in my household show symptoms. 

 

CANCELLATIONS:

• My cancellation and ‘no show’ policy is still in place and you can still change or cancel your appointment up to 24 hours prior without penalty. When your appointment is confirmed, your reminders will detail the cancellation policy and charges for late cancellations and ‘no shows’. However, there will be no charge for any cancellations within 24 hours if related to covid-19.  

• If you feel at all unwell then please contact me at any point and we can postpone your appointment.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you have questions then it probably means that I have failed to mention something so you’d be helping me out by raising it! 

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Looking forward to seeing you soon! To book your appointment click here

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Rachel x

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