The government announced yesterday that all Covid restrictions in England (including the need to isolate if you test positive) will end from Thursday 24 February. The provision of free testing will be withdrawn from 1 April.
Whilst removing all restrictions may be an acceptable risk response for many of the population, it is a bigger risk for clinically vulnerable and especially, clinically extremely vulnerable people. These categories make up 95% of the clients I treat in clinic.
Vaccination can help to reduce the risk of serious illness, hospitalisation and death. Vaccinated people can however still catch and transmit the latest variant of the virus. Most, if not all of my clients would prefer to avoid the additional burden of dealing with an infection, (even if it doesn’t lead to hospitalisation), on top of the condition that they are seeking treatment for.
From the very beginning of the covid pandemic I have undertaken risk assessments to provide the best levels of safety to my clients and my family. Before I became an acupuncturist I used to work in audit and risk management and so I am well qualified to do this. My risk assessment takes account of transmission rates of covid in the area (an indicator of the likelihood that you can catch it) and the vulnerability of my clients (an indicator of the possible impact on you if you catch the virus). I then look at what further steps I can take to help reduce this overall level of risk.
Removing all restrictions and more importantly removing access to free testing, also removes many of the ways in which I measure the risk and removes some of the safety measures I put in place to manage the remaining risk.
This is what the latest government changes mean for clients at South Scarborough Acupuncture Clinic, where I put safety first.
New Clients
Regretfully I am closing the clinic to new clients. Hopefully this will be temporary until I can find some way to track transmission rates, know what tests are available and how much they cost. If and when I do reopen to new clients, it is likely that you will need to be fully vaccinated, wear a mask in clinic and test before attending.
Clients on an existing programme of treatment
I will continue to treat those clients who are already booked in with me. If you are already booked in for your next appointment, then you will know that I still require you to wear a mask in clinic and also complete a Lateral Flow Test before attending clinic. Please contact me before your appointment if you do not have access to a Lateral Flow Test. I will post one out to you.
If you cannot make an appointment or decide you do not want to continue treatment, then please do let me know in advance. Heating the clinic is, as I’m sure you’ll know, getting even more expensive and I cannot afford to do so if clients don’t attend.
Clients who wish to return for treatment
If you are an existing client of the clinic but haven’t attended an appointment in the last 3 months then please contact me if you wish to book in.
Case rates are currently close to over 4,600 active daily cases in the Scarborough area (I probably won’t be able to track this effectively after Thursday) and so I ask clients to complete an LFT no more than 24hrs before attending clinic. I now test every day that I’m in clinic.
I do also ask all clients to wear a mask when attending clinic. Your mask protects me. I always wear a mask in clinic and my mask is a disposable FFP2 category mask. My mask protects you more than it does me. If you forget your mask or it is ill-fitting then I will provide a suitable one.
If you are exempt and cannot wear a mask, then please let me know when you book your appointment. There are additional safeguards that I can put in place and I will need to schedule your appointments, so that you are not followed in clinic by a vulnerable client. If you arrive for an appointment without alerting me to your exemption, then we will not be able to proceed and your appointment will need to be rescheduled at your expense.
Other Safety Measures
Some of the other safety measures that are part of the routine processes within the clinic include:
- Regular cleaning after each client visit
- Deep cleaning
- Ventilation
- Air purifier
- Freshly laundered uniform daily
If you wish to know more about any of my safety protocols then please do ask.