GCMT Respet training: 2023 practioner update

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Authority responds to BBC File on 4’s programme ‘Assaulted by my Massage Therapist’

Reshared from The Professional Standards Authority.

The BBC programme ‘Assaulted by my Massage Therapist’ which aired last night on Radio 4 highlighted the serious risk that unregulated and unscrupulous massage therapists can pose to the public.

The Authority always recommends choosing a practitioner who is regulated by law or who is on one of its Accredited Register. It is quick and easy to check who is on a Register before choosing treatment.

Practitioners who join an Accredited Register show their commitment to professional standards and ethical behaviour and are held to account.

• We call on all massage therapists to join an Accredited Register to better protect the public

The BBC programme investigated the increasing use of online apps that allow people to book treatments directly with self-employed therapists. There is no regulation of apps or the checks they must provide.

• We call on providers like these to ask their practitioners to join Accredited Registers to make sure they are well trained and meet high standards

We also think it is important that there are appropriate levels of criminal background checks for self-employed practitioners.

• We are currently working with the Government, Accredited Registers and others to close this safeguarding gap

About Accredited Registers

Our Accredited Registers programme is backed by the Government. We set standards for, and accredit Registers of, health and care practitioners. This includes massage therapists and sports massage therapists registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council and sport rehabilitation practitioners (some of whom may provide massage therapy) registered with the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators.

If practitioners breach standards set by Registers, they can be removed and not permitted to join another Accredited Register. All Registers accredited by the Authority must have a robust complaints system.

Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care

MTI Practitioners: Covid 19 Code of Practice December 2021

Covid 19 Code of Practice

Version 1: 7th December 2021.
Next version: 7th March 2022 or when government advice changes

Note for this code of practice:

The MTI board acknowledges that reducing the spread of Covid-19 is a whole process of conducting a risk assessment and reaching an informed clinical judgement on what would be appropriate in each case.

In this Code of Practice, we are focusing on:

• Following government guidelines
• MTI ethos of empowering members to make decisions about how to treat clients in the context of Covid 19.
• Conducting a thorough risk assessment & tailoring each treatment accordingly

Government guidelines

The following are the government guidelines (in England) for close contact businesses. This is given to demonstrate some of the common guidelines. See the full guidelines in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:

• Carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment
• Ensure frequent cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures
• Face mask to be worn by you and your client, unless they are exempt
• Keep social distancing
• Increase ventilation
• Display the NHS QR code, but its use is voluntary.
• Keep track of your clients’ attendance for at least 21 days. (appointment diary is fine)
• Turn away anyone with Covid-19 symptoms

MTI Good practice

The following is the MTI expectation from practitioners:

• A written risk assessment. While this is not mandatory by the government for sole traders, MTI recommends doing this in writing as it will help you to identify areas where potential risks can be minimised.
• Pre-screening to be carried out before meeting with each client. This can be done via phone, email, online form or face to face using social distance. In this context, Covid symptom questions are required to be answered by the client. Vaccination status is optional.
• PPE kit: have the full kit available in your clinic so you can use it if needed. E.g if government advice changes, increase infection rate in your local area, or if a client asks you to do so. The current thinking is that PPE over and above government guidelines in a non-clinical setting is not deemed to reduce the risk of infection.
• Consider breathing direction between you and the client
• For the higher-risk clients, consider, for example, shorter treatment, longer ventilation time, seeing vulnerable clients for the first session of the day, avoiding working on neck/head/shoulder in the supine position and other adjustments.
• Keep an eye on the guidelines applying to your area from your local public health department for a complete picture and regularly check for updates.
• Based on the information provided by the client, it is your decision to treat or to refer another therapist (for practitioners protection).

More ways to mitigate Covid 19

This advice should be considered by practitioners for risk mitigation measures based on the pre-screening.

• PPE: consider using extra PPE (gloves, visor and aprons) if indicated by your risk assessment or requested by the client.
• Lateral Flow test. Current government advice is to take the test twice a week. Consider you and your client to take the test before each meeting. Order online
• Measuring temperature on arrival.
• Massage to the head, face, neck, scalp and shoulders should be done carefully while considering air direction between participants. Consider when to avoid massaging these areas. Some options include turning the head to one side if a client is supine, placing clients in the side-lying or prone position, or any other position to reduce a direct airway to/from a client. Bear in mind that the client is still wearing a mask in this close contact scenario, it does not mean they can take off their mask (unless exempt).
• It is advised to let your client know about the steps you are taking to mitigate Covid 19. This could be done via your website or an email