You may cancel any booking up to 48 hours before the appointment time. Please give as much notice as possible.
A deposit (50% of treatment cost) is payable to confirm your booking and this will be retained should you cancel or change the appointment with less than 48 hours notice, regardless of the reason.
This is because I cannot be expected to fill your appointment time at short notice. I may have also juggled other commitments or declined other opportunities to be available for you. I may have incurred costs, such as travel and room hire, and must ensure ongoing viability of my services.
You may reschedule a booking up to 24 hours before the appointment time. Rescheduled appointments must be within 2 weeks of your original booking.
No refunds will be offered for rescheduled appointments.
Repeat cancellations or rescheduling will require you to pay upfront, in full, for future appointments and may mean you are no longer eligible for loyalty rewards or discount offers.
If I need to cancel your appointment, due to illness or unforeseen events, you are entitled to a refund of your deposit, if you prefer not to reschedule.
Please arrive on time for your appointment.
Note, if you are early I may still be with another client and unable to answer the bell or let you in immediately, so please wait patiently outside. I will be expecting you and doing by best to keep to schedule.
Whilst I appreciate time-keeping can be a challenge, and am always keen to be flexible and supportive, it is also important that I maintain appropriate boundaries when it comes to respecting my time and the needs of other clients.
With this in mind, no fee is charged for your being late, but if I am not able to adjust the schedule, your appointment will end at the scheduled time.
If you don’t know our location please check it in advance, make sure you have enough time to park and find us. Location details are on the website and included in your booking and reminder emails.
I am trained in safeguarding and understand my responsibilities to safeguard clients, including vulnerable adults and children who may access services.
A parent or legal guardian must be present for any treatment of those under 16 years of age.
Vulnerable adults may be accompanied by an appropriate chaperone.
Following an initial consultation, informed, written consent is obtained from all clients.
If I identify any safeguarding concerns, I will report these to the relevant agency - e.g. GP or Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (Front Door for Families)
I will follow the CARE approach: Communicate openly, Acknowledge disclosures, Record incidents accurately, and Escalate concerns to the appropriate authorities.
If a client is in immediate danger or needs urgent medical attention I will call 999 emergency services.
I have a DBS check and am registered with the Update Service.
To be absolutely clear, I am a professional massage therapist and not a sex worker.
I make no judgement of those wishing to seek out or provide those services, but that is not what I offer - in any form.
I have a zero tolerance approach to sexual misconduct or behaviour I deem to be inappropriate.
Clients understands that any illicit or sexually aggressive remarks, advances or gestures will result in the immediate termination of the session and you will be liable for full payment for the scheduled appointment.
Fees are clearly communicated on my website and confirmed with each booking.
Once your booking is agreed, a deposit of 50% of the fee is payable immediately, via my booking app, unless otherwise agreed.
After your treatment, the balance is due immediately. This can be settled in person, by cash or card payment. Alternatively, we may agree a BACS transfer or you accept and authorize me to charge the balance to the card details held in the booking app.
Please also refer to my Cancellation Policy.
I reserve the right to review fees for my services at any time, to ensure ongoing viability of my business.
Confidentiality is an important feature of our working together. The Gentle Man Massage is fully committed to complying with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the responsible and secure use of your data. The purpose of this statement is to let you know what personal information we collect and hold, why this data is collected, how long it is kept and what your rights are with regards to this personal data. The Gentle Man Massage will ask you to consent to the processing of your data under the terms of our policy. The Gentle Man Massage will be responsible for the data management, will abide by this privacy statement, and will hold a privacy statement that complies with the GDPR terms.
What information does The Gentle Man Massage collect?
We collect personal data such as name, address, date of birth, gender, GP/medical practitioner details, telephone numbers, and email address. We also collect any data you give us regarding personal and family background, alongside potentially sensitive data relating to medical and mental health conditions.
What does The Gentle Man Massage use your information for?
· To notify you about changes to your appointments and the services we provide.
· To fulfil any administrative, legal, ethical and contractual obligations.
What information does The Gentle Man Massage share?
We will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:
· Consent – we may share information with relevant medical professionals or others whom you have requested or agreed we may contact.
· Serious harm – we may share your information with the relevant authorities if we have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.
· Compliance with law – we may share information when the law requires us to - i.e. safeguarding, terrorism, drug trafficking and serious crime.
· Supervision & Professional Development – We may share non-identifiable, summary information related to our assessment, clinical reasoning and treatment plan with a professional supervisor.
How does The Gentle Man keep your information safe?
· All information you provide is stored as securely as possible. All reasonable precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of information given.
· All paper forms and correspondence are kept in locked filing cabinets. All electronic files and communication are kept on password-protected devices.
· Whilst we endeavour to keep our systems and communications protected against viruses and other harmful effects, we cannot bear responsibility for all communications being virus free.
· Client notes and other documentation are destroyed seven years after the end of the services offered.
· Any known data breaches will be reported to the ICO within 72 hours.
· Any requests for personal data need to be made through a data subject access request and will be supplied within one month.
Your rights. Under the GDPR, you have the right to:
· Access your personal data - Rectify, erase or restrict your data - Object to the processing of your data - Request transfer of data (data portability).
· You may withdraw your consent for The Gentle Man Massage to hold and process your data at any time.
· If you have any concerns about the way The Gentle Man Massage handles your data please contact gentle.manbtn@gmail.com If you feel this has not been resolved effectively you have the right to contact the Information Commissioners Office (www.ico.org.uk)