Unhappy about our long awaited spa day due to non vaccinated therapist

Hello again, yes the ladies who said I should have checked before are right. I just assumed (wrongly) that once the spa was open staff would be vaccinated and I have been rather naive on this. I have finally had a reply from management who said he was sorry to hear of my upset but cannot force staff to take the injection. Oh well one lives and learns as they say.

rosie1959

trisher

I think the spa has a duty to inform customers that not all of its therapists are vaccinated and offer an alternative treatment with a vaccinated person if you are concerned about this.

The spa would not necessary know which of their employees are vacinnated

The spa could collect data about their employees and use that data providing they can justify its use. I would imagine the close personal contact between customers and therapists and the possibility that a customer might have health problems would provide such justification ico.org.uk/global/data-protection-and-coronavirus-information-hub/coronavirus-recovery-data-protection-advice-for-organisations/vaccination-and-covid-pass-checks/

I have never thought of asking anyone who treats me, either medically or otherwise, if they’ve been vaccinated. To be honest even if they said they had I would have no way of knowing if they were telling the truth or not.

trisher

I think the spa has a duty to inform customers that not all of its therapists are vaccinated and offer an alternative treatment with a vaccinated person if you are concerned about this.

The spa would not necessary know which of their employees are vacinnated

The point is, Spa treatment is not medical, and it was your choice to take it, therefore the onus was on you to check about vaccinations before you allowed anyone to work on you in close physical proximity.

I think the spa has a duty to inform customers that not all of its therapists are vaccinated and offer an alternative treatment with a vaccinated person if you are concerned about this.

And what do you do in an emergency, in A&E, or if you need to have an operation, where there will be 10 or more people present, when you are under aneasthetics?

The fact is, currently, in law, they do not have to, and they don't have to tell you. Their right not to be vaccinated trumps your right to know and be protected. It's wrong, I feel- but it is how it is.

A friend of ours was sent to A&E as he his heart was badly failing- and was tranferred to a famous Hospital for a complicated heart op the next day. Then the Casualty department where he went first phoned the other hospital to say someone had tested positive for Covid where he was waiting the previous day. That was after he had the op, and he then tested posititive and was very sick and had to be put in coma and respirator so he would not cough ...He was very very lucky to survive, but it was touch and go and made his recovery so much more difficult and slow.

I know several nurses who are not vaccinated, and 2 doctors.

I always ask anyone who treat me for anything if they are vaccinated in the nicest way possible. If they are not I go somewhere else. DH and I are immunocompromised and it would be irresponsible of us to put ourselves in harms way and then expect the NHS to bail us out. Our bodies have not healed themselves of our various ailments and we dont expect them to we are not robots..

No you're not being OTT. Just because she's a holistic therapist doesn't mean that every client she treats has to believe in it all too. You went for a spa treatment in good faith for your own benefits.
I certainly wouldn't return there or even recommend it to anyone else. Shame on the management.

"I am a holistic therapist and believe the body heals itself"

If only that were true ..... there would be millions still alive.

My dentist made it all clear right from when he reopened last year about the Covid situation at his practice re vaccinations once they became appropriate, and the Covid precautions the practice had put in place. They have never changed these, even when rules were relaxed, and I feel happy going there. They have become my benchmark.... just wish my doctors' surgery were as careful

Biscuitmuncher is right, she could catch Covid from you but since you are vaccinated the fact remains that you are much more likely to catch it from her. I think clients have a right to know whether a person treating them in such a way is vaccinated. Treatment rooms at spas are small and closed usually, and an unvaccinated therapist is much more likely to pass on infection if she’s infected, to any client she is treating.

Good grief she could catch covid off you!

I'll also go against the grain. The therapist has a right, as we all do, to decide whether to be vaccinated or not. If a client is concerned about this, they need to ask if the practitioner is vaccinated so they can decide if they want to see them. I am seeing the dentist this week and aren't asking if the staff have been vaccinated. I won't ask my massage therapist either. Maybe I should think about whether I want to do that or not.

Many therapists have unusual beliefs. I have stopped acupuncture after the lady tried to persuade me of her anti-vax nonsense.

The body heals itself. Tell that to the marines!

Thanks for all your replies.

I very wrongly assumed that the therapist involved would have been vaccinated and that is my error. I honestly thought it would be without question but I was wrong and no the therapist didn't wear a mask. Yes, I should have checked but thought staff would be vaccinated and didn't think I needed to.

This spa day was only meant to be a treat for ourselves and it had to go on the back burner for so long and we had to keep renewing the voucher we thought we ought to use and left as long as possible. Think I haven't been forward thinking enough.

I haven't received the courtesy of a reply from the manager of the spa which is at a very well know hotel chain and not at all impressed with that.

My DH is fine and I wonder now if the therapist who treated me thought the same and not had the vaccine but it never came up in the treatment room as she didn't make conversation.

When doing electrolysis! Where did that word go?

All I can say is that most therapists would put their clients first.
I am so careful and keep my clients as safe as I possibly can. I leave time to clean down my salon between clients and always spray with a product called Virusend between treatments.
I always wear a mask although this can be difficult when doing
Perhaps the therapist is doing a lot of lateral testing? I hope so even though that’s not 100% reliable.

I have been double vaxxed and will have my booster soon and I can’t think why anyone working in such a closed environment wouldn’t. It’s not as though we can keep windows open in the colder weather. Not much fun having a massage when you are freezing.
I went to a spa on as a birthday treat and never thought to ask if the therapist had had her vaccines. It didn’t occur to me that she wouldn’t. IMO if you work closely with the public you must take care of them. I will ask if the occasion arises again.

Hetty I don’t know any therapist, and I know a few, that wouldn’t have the vaccine but no doubt there are some who are as daft as others in the general population. I bet my clients are glad I’m not ‘holistic’!

I have visited a doctor, nurse, dentist, hairdresser and physio. It did not occur to me to ask if they were vaccinated and if I had they had no obligation to tell me.

I think we just have to accept that some people will not have had one.

I just wonder if this holistic therapist would seek treatment for cancer if she was to discover a warning sign. I think most would if they are being honest with themselves. So isn't it double standards to refuse preventative medicine that protects clients as well as themselves?

Mmany nurses and care staff are not vaccinated. And yes, I think it is wrong, irresponsible and dangerous!

mrsgreenfingers56, I think you really should have checked in advance - as vaccination isn't compulsory.

A surprising number of therapists, gym instructors, hairdressers, beauticians etc. - people who get really up close, are anti-vaccine, thinking it's 'unnatural'. I just despair!

I wouldn't be happy going on a spa break yet, either, as it's hardly relaxing if we're worried about infection.

It wouldn't bother me but that's mainly because it would never occur to me to go for spa 'treatment', or whatever it's called.

One does have a choice in such things. Don't go if you think the risk of contamination is too high. The therapist deserves some points for honesty even if her outlook is seen as misguided.

I recently discovered that my hairdresser and colourist have neither been vaccinated either. I didn’t like to ask why. I am double jabbed so just hope I don’t catch it. Only visit once every eight weeks so hopefully if they do catch it, it won’t affect me. They haven’t so far….