The level of care provided by a beauty therapist and
beauty clinic, and the importance of open disclosure when
things go wrong was highlighted in a decision published by
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Dr Vanessa
Caldwell.
In her decision, Dr Caldwell found a beauty
therapist in breach of the Code of Health and Disability
Services Consumers’ Rights (the Code), for using incorrect
laser settings in her treatment of a woman, resulting in
burns to her face. Dr Caldwell also considered that the
skincare products recommended and given to the woman
(retinal and a glycolic scrub) following the treatment were
inappropriate for use on burned and damaged skin, and could
cause further damage.
Dr Caldwell concluded the beauty
therapist did not provide services with reasonable care and
skill to the woman for hair removal treatment at a beauty
clinic.
“While I acknowledge a potential factor in the
error by the beauty therapist was the short turnaround time
between clients, forgetting to alter the machine settings to
ensure they were appropriate for the woman’s skin tone was
a significant error with a severe outcome,” says Dr
Caldwell.
The woman asked the clinic how the burns to
her face occurred, but it was not until after she made a
complaint that she found out incorrect settings had been
used for her treatment.
Dr Caldwell therefore also
found the beauty clinic, LCNZ Takapuna Pty Limited, in
breach of the Code, for misleading the woman and avoiding
accountability for the error made by the beauty
therapist.
“Under the Code, every consumer has the
right to information a reasonable consumer, in that
consumer’s circumstances, would expect to
receive.
“This includes details of how adverse events
occurred and I am critical of the clinic for failing to
inform the woman about the cause of her burns once it became
known. An error was made that caused her harm, and it is
unacceptable this was not disclosed to the woman,” says Dr
Caldwell.
Dr Caldwell also criticised the working
environment of the laser clinic that contributed to the poor
outcome suffered by the woman.
“The clinic has a
responsibility to ensure staff have a supportive and
well-resourced working environment to complete procedures.
Unfortunately, in this situation the strain on staff
contributed to the harm caused to the woman,” says Dr
Caldwell.
Dr Caldwell recommended the beauty therapist
provide a written apology to the woman, and, if she returned
to work as a laser therapist, she should undertake further
training on providing laser services to a range of skin
tones, as well as training on burns and burn
aftercare.
She further recommended the laser clinic
provide a written apology to the woman, review the client
booking system to consider whether longer breaks between
clients or throughout the day would prevent stress on
therapists; consider providing staff guidance on how to
manage customer requests for treatment additional to what
was booked; and create clinic protocols relating to
appropriate products to give to a consumer in the event of a
reaction. Dr Caldwell also recommended training sessions on
responding to burns and appropriate burn aftercare, and
providing laser services to a range of skin tones.
The
full report of this case can be viewed on HDC’s website –
see HDC’s ‘ Latest
Decisions‘.
Names have been removed from the
report to protect privacy of the individual involved in this
case. We anticipate that the Commissioner will name DHBs and
public hospitals found in breach of the Code unless it would
not be in the public interest or would unfairly compromise
the privacy interests of an individual provider or a
consumer. HDC’s naming policy can be found on our website
here.
© Scoop Media
Discussion about this post