Bulletin: January 2021
Government Directives during the current National Lockdown
FOR PRACTITIONERS
England
The Government has previously stated that it cannot provide comments on individual cases of whether or not a business is permitted to open and that is presumably still their position. It therefore remains for each business to assess whether they are a business required to close having considered the Regulations and guidance on business closures.
Consequently, please visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#businesses-and-venues-which-can-remain-open and then scroll down to the section Healthcare and Public Services immediately below this and you will note that the list includes ‘other medical or health services, including services relating to mental health’.
This advice was last updated on 4 January 2021, and although identical to that set out under the previous Tier system, continues to remain relevant under the current lockdown.
Although we can again neither find, nor currently obtain, Government information specific to the practise of hypnotherapy (and although the following does not constitute legal advice), based upon our interpretation of the above, hypnotherapists in England do appear to meet the definition of “other…health services, including services relating to mental health” contained in Section 17(o), Schedule 3A of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020. Furthermore, the amended legislation on which Parliament voted on 6 January 2021 made no changes to that section of the Regulations.
It therefore seems that hypnotherapists can continue to practise face to face with clients in England (subject to all required safety measures being in place) if they meet the criteria set out below:
• You must only provide the therapies you are registered for, on a one-to-one basis to clients, for an identified mental or physical health condition or injury that is causing them pain or having an adverse impact on their mobility or their quality of life.
• You must be able to evidence that your therapeutic intervention is supporting your client with their condition. You can do this by recording their health condition and giving a clear rationale in your client’s care record for the treatment that you are providing.
• You cannot provide treatment to a client in their own home unless you have received a direct referral from a statutory regulated health professional.
• If your practice is based in your own home you can continue to work from there as long as it is COVID-secure. Please click Close contact services – Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) – Guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which although essentially for close contact working, remains extremely relevant for hypnotherapists.
You must exercise the utmost caution and exercise your professional judgement in assessing the risks. The new variant of COVID-19 is highly transmissible. You must carry out a risk assessment on whether the benefits of seeing a client in person outweighs the risks.
The above notwithstanding, it remains wise to practice remotely wherever possible.
We will, of course, closely monitor Government directives and will continue to advise GHR Practitioners whenever necessary during this fast-changing situation.
Due to the various devolved parliaments within the UK, different rules may apply from those in England. Please see:
Scotland
Due to the various devolved parliaments within the UK, different rules apply from those in Englan. See:
Coronavirus (COVID-19): retail sector guidance – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Wales
See: https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid-19-closure-businesses-and-premises-html
Northern Ireland
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-regulations-guidance-what-restrictions-mean-you
With respect to Republic of Ireland
See: Public health measures for COVID-19 (citizensinformation.ie)
N.B. As the various tiers and varying requirements within the UK’s four nations and the Republic of Ireland during the virus crisis are constantly changing, we are all on shifting sand and so you are strongly advised to regularly monitor the relevant Government websites in order to keep abreast of the current rules in your respective region.
IMPORTANT: As we cannot advise on insurance matters, if you have not already done so we recommend that you contact your insurance provider to determine whether your policy remains valid for working during this period.
FOR TRAINERS
The only possibly relevant references that we can find from the latest Government guidance (England) on this are from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/closing-certain-businesses-and-venues-in-england
Scroll down to the section Business events -Tier 4 where it states: “Business meetings for work, training or education purposes can still take place but only where the event cannot be delayed, where it is not possible to carry out the activity from home, and if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate it has followed COVID-19 guidance.”
Although this is Tier 4 and the country has now gone beyond this into lockdown, it appears that the above guidance nonetheless remains relevant.
Depending on your training venue, if you scroll down further to Other venues subject to restrictions – under Community Facilities (Community centres and town and parish halls) it appears that these may stay open for “the purposes of formal education or training”.
N.B. During the entire pandemic it has been impossible to determine from Government instructions whether face to face training in areas like hypnotherapy can legally go ahead or not. However, whilst we cannot therefore offer legal advice on this, it does nonetheless seem that it could possibly go ahead provided that all Covid safety measures are strictly adhered to.
IMPORTANT: As we cannot advise on insurance matters, if you have not already done so we recommend that you contact your insurance provider to determine whether your policy remains valid for working during this period.
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The Administration Team
Views expressed within the above material and any conclusions reached are those of the author
and not necessarily shared by the GHR or the GHSC
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