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The Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner has found a
beauty clinic failed to provide a customer with enough
information for her to give informed consent to a laser hair
removal treatment she received.
Dr Vanessa Caldwell
found the clinic breached Right 6(1) of the Code of Health
and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (the Code) – the
right to be fully informed and Right 7(1) – the right to
make an informed choice and give informed consent.
The
consumer purchased a voucher for intense pulsed light (IPL)
treatment for hair removal of underarms but was treated by
the clinic for laser hair removal instead. The customer
sustained an injury following the treatment.
Dr
Caldwell says it was imperative that, as an employer, the
clinic had a responsibility to make sure its staff were
aware of, and complied with, the Auckland Council Health and
Hygiene Code of Practice.
She says this requires
providers to identify and record customers’ medical
history and suitability for a service and obtain the
customers’ signed consent. The provider should also give
customers written advice about precautions and post service
procedures.
“The clinic as an employer needed to have
systems in place to ensure that its employees had the
appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out treatments
safely, that appropriate information about the client’s
suitability for treatment was obtained and documented,” said
Dr Caldwell.
Dr Caldwell recommended the clinic
provide the customer with a written apology for the breaches
of the Code and to develop a system to identify which
employee has performed each treatment.
She also
recommended all staff undertake further training in Auckland
Council Health and Hygiene Bylaw 2013 and associated Code of
Practice, and the Australia New Zealand Standard for the
laser machine operation, and create policies for staff to
follow in line with these
standards.
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