This statement and guidance has been prepared following the government’s decision this week, regarding the lockdown in England, and applies to our valued clients throughout the UK, whether you are in, coming out of, or going into imposed lockdown.
The first thing we would offer is our general thoughts around the ongoing frustration and difficult circumstances you, and the rest of the country find yourselves in. It continues to be a year like we’ve never known and while the decision by the various governments of the UK will cause inconvenience and pain to everyone, we all have a duty to embrace the rules, with a view to improving the overall chances of controlling the virus throughout the country for the rest of this year and heading into 2021.
From a purely operational point of view, we want to offer our thoughts on what should happen throughout lockdown periods where you look at what procedures you would or wouldn’t be covered for, in the event of a claim occurring resulting from a treatment.
During the first lockdown, we released several statements regarding the position of insurers with the most prominent being sent on the 25th June 2020, where we supported the statement and approach of the Joint Council of Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) and their endorsement of the ‘Medical Model’ whereby your insurance would support you if you met the criteria laid down by them. In their statement of the 3rd November, the JCCP have reaffirmed their support to this model with details found here. We urge you to read the statement in full, but the summary of that statement is detailed below:
- Are acting in your capacity as a regulated healthcare professional
- Place patient safety and public protection as your primary concern and do not invite members of the public/patients to attend for non-urgent treatments until it is safe to do so
- Perform an individual patient assessment and associated risk assessment which leads to a clinical determination (arrived at through the application of the Practitioner’s clinical judgement) that confirms that the rationale for the provision of the procedure is medically related
- Undertake the treatment from clinical premises that meets the standards outlined in the original JCCP premises guidance and any further points in our ‘Continued Preparation and Adaptation of Workplace and Practice During Covid-19'
- Undertake the procedure in accordance with published JCCP guidance and ensure that appropriate patient safety precautions are in place
- Take into account the urgency of the requested intervention along with the implications of delaying or omitting to provide the same at this time
- Ensure that you are insured for the procedure that you intend to perform
- Continue to practise safely and consistently with Government Test and Trace requirements
If, after considering the statement in full, any applicable guidance from your registered body, the government and sector associations, you take the decision to perform treatments then your insurance should, subject to the usual terms and conditions, consider claims in the usual way.
While we appreciate and understand the frustration, we would additionally urge you to maintain your insurance policy in force to ensure you are covered for all previous treatments prior to any lockdown period. The nature of Medical Indemnity/Malpractice policies is that insurance MUST be in force at the time of the claim, as well as when the treatment was carried out.
Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Cosmetic team who will help you your enquiries.
We wish you safe and look forward to supporting you and your business.
