Firstly, I just want to thank everyone for your understanding and patience over the past week or two. This week I have been busy with preparations to resume business and I still have a few things to sort so I am all ready to go very soon. I know that many of you have been looking forward to getting back to having massage and no doubt there will be some pretty tight and sore bodies in need of some attention out there! I will be re-opening on Tuesday 2nd June and am looking forward to it!
Things are going to be a bit different for a little while in our “new normal” at Equilibrium Massage Therapy though, so please bear with me while we adjust. Before re-opening my appointment book, there are some essential things I need you to know, so together we can all keep safe and well.
Only come to your appointment if you are healthy and well – if you have any underlying health conditions which put you at higher risk, have symptoms such as cough, sore throat, sneezing or runny nose, fever, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste, please STAY HOME.
Appointments are limited to 60 minutes at present - this is just a temporary measure and will likely change as we move back down levels. The reason for this is to reduce the length of time therapist and client are in close contact in the confined massage clinic space.
You will get sent a COVID-19 screening form via email prior to your appointment – you need to complete this before your appointment. If you can’t do that, please let us know beforehand.
We will do a self-screen daily as well – this is so we are also checking if we have any symptoms.
Wait in your vehicle until your appointment time, or arrive just a minute or two before your appointment – this is to reduce contact time and reduce any risk of you being in contact with other people (we have builders and tradespeople onsite at present).
Use the hand sanitiser available before you enter the clinic room and before leaving – we have some available at the door and in the clinic.
We are required by the MOH to collect client contact details for contact tracing – to make it easier, we will use contact information we already have collected from you in via our booking and practice management systems. All client information is stored securely and we will ONLY share this contact information with MOH if requested by them.
We have disposable masks available for clients – you are welcome to bring your own or use one of ours. We may ask you to wear one if we are doing supine (face up) work, to minimise droplet spread.
We will wear a mask, but just during hands-on treatment – this is to minimise droplet spread.
We may wear additional PPE – if we feel this is necessary, we will explain why at the time.
We won’t be providing water in the clinic for now – bring your own water bottle in your bag or leave it in your car for after your appointment.
We have introduced additional hygiene measures in the clinic – this includes more time for cleaning between clients, PPE available, hospital-grade cleaner, bins for client belongings, removing unnecessary items from the clinic.
We will be limiting appointment numbers to 4 clients per day – again, this is just a temporary measure and will likely change as we move back down levels. This is to allow for extra time for cleaning between clients.
We won't be taking new clients/referrals for a while – this is because we want to focus on our existing clients for now and ensuring appointments are available for them (the exception is those who have vouchers to redeem soon).
We will be working to honour vouchers purchased during lockdown and prior – if you have one of these, please get in touch as we want to accommodate you. We have extended the expiration date for vouchers purchased before and during lockdown.
We have a more detailed document here (just click on the link), COVID-19 Clinic Health and Hygiene Protocols, We ask that you browse through it before your first appointment back with us, and if you have any questions or are unsure if you should be resuming massage therapy at this point, please ask as I am happy to answer any questions or clarify information for you.
This weekend I will be getting in contact with clients who have appointments already in the system (booked before lockdown), to see if those of you still want to keep these. I will also be getting in contact with those who bought vouchers during lockdown, to see if you want to redeem these soon and if so, to schedule you in.
My appointment book will be re-opened on Monday 25th May, so online bookings will be able to be done from then. I might have a few "teething" problems with some of the new systems, but will do my best to make things work as smoothly as possible.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you very soon! Odette