I HATE TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO....

[mb852]

Hi there,

A few months ago I suggested that the government was going to legalise prostitution and that it would effect massage therapist and we would have to have a recognised certificate to be able to practice.

Quite frankly I was slated by other members. I was told that massage had nothing to do with prostituion etc etc.

Well here we are. The government has announced a few months ago that they were to clamp down on kerb crawling and legalise brothels - basically so that they can keep an eye of employees and make sure they are paying their tax.

What has this got to do with us?? I hear you say.

Well, I live in the East End of London where most brothels describe themselves as massage and sauna.

Recently a friend has set up a therapy centre in Redbridge.He wanted to do everything proper so rang the local council to see how he was to licence thepremises. Redbridge council have sent him forms for all the therapists to fill in. Once done they will do a police check on us. We have also had to produce all our certificates and proof of insurance.

The good news is that I have already seen two brothels closed down near me. The girls there could not speak English so they could not get qualified as massuers.

Please do not be affended because that is definately not my intention. I just wanted to make you aware that the councils are all going to follow suit. I do not know which examining board they will accept.

Please do not shoot the messenger.

Love and Light

TRACY ANN

 

[RAF]

Its going to be interesting to see how this pans out, London at the moment is fairly unique in the country in requiring therapists to be licensed by the council to practice.

I really hope we don't go down the US route of stupid numbers of hours of training, national certification boards that only care about your answers on a bit of paper not how good your treatment is etc.

It is also our responsibility as therapists to make sure the public know the difference, our associations and professional bodies that are supposed represent and promote what we do should be tackling this.

Mat xxx

 

[pweioupxibpiduegt]

Mat (fozzyo)
i agree and diagree with your reply, i agree with the bit about just having a bit of paper, but i think that it is important that their should be a 'body' that can make sure that therapists update their skills, like they do in many other professional bodies. unfortunatley GP once they have qualified do not have to update their skills, and look how many mistakes they make, not saying that therapistmakes mistakes, but i do know a good few therapist, but a i know alot of crap theirapist too, do youwant them giving the rest of us a bad reputation - worth thinking about x

 

[RooSheeaua]

I agree chid, personally I think the whole industry should be regulated. Unfortunately, for every one good therapist there are plenty of bad therapists, which give the industry a bad name. Regulation, although wont get rid of bad therapists altogether, will ensure that everyone is suitably qualified, and that their skills are annually updated with CPD workshops.

 

[Pat G]

Some good points, actually made me think about my Mum and my Boyfriend. My bf has just applied for his provisional driving licence, once that comes he can learn to drive and then get his licence. Great - he can drive me around and will be all fabby and qualified with his bit of paper. My mum on the other hand passed her test about fourty years ago and hasn't driven for about 30. She is perfectly legal to drive, just would be a danger to everyone.

Qualifications are important to ensure people are safe to massage, but CPD is good to ensure they continue to be safe and ethical.

I do have a worry about CPD though and the current CPD system that is used by a lot of associations. What if the course you want to do isn't accredited for CPD points? What if you want to just do the same course again - you are a massage therapist and you just want to learn the same stuff to help improve - is that considered valid CPD?

Interesting times ahead.

Out of interest are any of the associations active on this issue, lobbying or campaigning either way?

Mat xxx

 

[N1ghTwar10r]

Hi Mat,
I too have a problem with the current CPD system.

Our organisation runs what we class as extremely useful CPD workshops in all manner of manual therapy and sports therapy. To get these registered with an organisation like Embody would cost us £200 per workshop. If we only have 4 or 5 people on the workshop, it would mean we had to run it at a loss, so we dont have any registered with Embody (although they do recognise our courses without having to pay??). It is the same sort of thing with FHT. Our own validating body is Sports Therapy Organisation, and they will validate CPD workshops for free, if they are suitable, and to a high standard.

I do feel that if the industry is regulated, the cost of CPD's will go through the roof (as it has in other regulated industries), which I am totally against.

One thing that has happened to quite a few of our graduates is that when they have presented their 'unapproved' CPD certificates to their membership bodies, and had them refused, they have threatened to leave the organisation, at which point the membership organisation suddenly decides that they can include the CPD workshop (without a charge to the workshop provider).

 

[Frankydoodle]

For the benefit of those who want to see the earlier thread (it is more than a year old), it is at:

[link=http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=124949]http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=124949[/link]

But I think that TracyAnn is quite wrong to state (as she did in her initial post) that



As we have discussed on many threads both in this forum and in the training forum, there are a lot of other qualifications in the UK besides ITEC. Two examples are the BTEC diploma offered by the London School of Sports Massage (among others) and the London College of Massage diploma.

Also, as we discussed on the more recent thread entitled ‘ideas please’
([link=http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=306415]http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=306415[/link])

councils already have the power to require licensing, but most of them grant either exemption or a block licence to members of established professional organisations.

Alan

 

[Legostwick]

I think CPD is fine in the early days when things are new and you still have a lot of questions that the schools/collages have not answered so you have to go on their advanced courses.[/align][/align]I must admit that when I look round at what is offered on these courses then I would be reluctant to go on most of them as it would not benefit me or my patients, intact it would put both myself and my patients out of pocket.[/align][/align]I like most therapists are running a business, if I pay more for insurance or other expenses then it gets passed on to my patients who provide me with the money I need to run my business as well as live of the profits, if legislation forces me to spend more money than my patients can afford to pay me, thenI go out of business and my patients are left to suffer under the financial inadequacies of the NHS.[/align][/align]It is the same with plumbers and electricians, new regulations mean that they have to make out a report on all work done, so you not only pay them for the materials and labour, there is now an additional expense of producing the paperwork which is often farmed out to individuals to produce on their behalf.[/align][/align]It is all very well saying regulate this and that, I work for myself, not the government or the NHSnor some fat cats who want to make money out of my hard work by sitting in an office and trying to tell me how to run my business, justbecause they have convinced the government that a trade organisation is in the best interest of everyone.[/align][/align]The only people who benefit from trade organisations are the fat cats who run the very lucrative trade organisations.I will get off the soap box now.[/align]

 

[mimi momo]

Hi all,
i agree with what sportstherapy has indicated about CPD and the actual effectiveness of the system in the first instance. I have for a number of years had to sit thru' many lectures, CPD workshops, paid on average £95 per day, that were quite honestly an insult to the intelligence of those attending. i do think that CPD gives licence to certain training providers to print money.
I have since not renewed my REPS status for this reason.
I was required to complete 24 hours annually, and in 3 years I attended only 1 CPD that was of benefit to me, and That I learned anything from. I feel that other CPD courses have been far more beneficial and whilst taught at a consideralbly higher level, they were not accredited by REPS ( IMO should be called, Premier).
I agree with AlanD about the other massage qualification being acceptable and available. membership bodies of professional massage therapists , can and many do negotiate an exclusion for this licence for thier members.

Matt's point about qualifications being needed to ensure safe practice, brings up sportstherapy's comment on an earlier thread, saying that different training establishments offering the same qualification whether a 2 day or 120 day course cannot possibly be training therapists to a similar level of skill.

It is time for regulation, but to see a way forward is difficult within the current legislation.

quote:

“anybody using the word massage in their advertising or practicing massage in any way, shape or form will have to have an ITEC qualification “.

I seem to have read similar quotes regarding the SMA and sports massage.
SST and Sportstherapy.

Again an interesting thread to which some useful contributions have been made, along with some equally bizzare statments.

Keep it real ,
Gaz

 

[GralryRor]

Sorry meant to say,
exclusion from the London Borough Licence.
Gaz

I promise to use the preview button from now on!

 

[CrazyCal]

I agree that CPD's can be a financial burden on therapists, and this year our organisation decided to offer our graduates some free workshops to help alleviate this.

It has to be remembered that the cost of CPD workshops are tax deductable, so it shouldnt really cost anything in the long run.

I strongly believe that all therapists, no matter how long they have been practising should attend refreshers. It helps keep us on the ball, and not complacent.

As I mentioned before, I do think some companies exploit CPD, especially in the physiotherapy industry.

 

[raiders_fan479]

I have my Diploma from the London College of Massage (LCM), Wendy Kavanagh who is the Director of LCM, I believe used to be the chair of the British Massage Therapy Council (BMTC). The BMTC website no longer exists so assume the nor does the organisation.

I have also attended a Post-Grad workshop at the Clare Maxwell-Hudson School of Massage (CMH) in London, and remember they were an affiliate member of an organisation. The CMH has an organisation for their graduates - The Massage Therapy Institue of Great Britain (MTIGB) which is only open to graduates of the CMH. They are however a member of the General Council of Massage Therapy, who's website hasn't been updated since 2004. I could go on, my point is that I don't feel we have a single umbrella organisation that can represent Massage Therapists and our needs and concerns.

Do you really know how many organisations there are out there representing Massage Therapy and / or therapists? For the UK I can name the following organisations: * Institue of Complimentary Medicine * British Complimentary Medicine Association * The Massage Therapy Institue of Great Britain * The Massage Training Institute * Embody * No Hands Massage Association * Complementary Therapists Association * Embody * Scottish Massage Therapists’ Organisation * General Council for Massage Therapy * ITEC * Sports Massage Association *International Association of Infant Massage - UK Chapter * Craniosacral Therapy Association * International Federation of Reflexologists * London & Counties Society of Physiologists * Society of Teachers of Alexander Technique * Bowen Association UK * The Northern Massage Association * International Register of Massage Therapists * Association of Holistic Biodynamic Massage Therapists (UK) * Association of Light Touch Therapists * Association Physical & Natural Therapists * Body Stress Release Association * Complementary Medicine Association of Wales * Fellowship of Holistic Integrated Therapists * Institute of Indian Head Massage * Practitioner Register for Holistic Therapies, ....

With all of these associations battling for our £70 - 150 a year subscription can we really be considered "represented" appropriately? The Massage Training Institute have a course requirements page for courses that they approve. My LCM training and ITEC training does fit this outline, but is it the right requirement? How can we as therapists decide what we would like to see set as the standard for massage therapy.

I would love to see a standard that people can attain to call themselves a Licensed Massage Therapist, but I don't know how we agree that, who is responsible for it and how can we fit in CPD, safety, ethics and development into it.

Mat xxx

 

[Daddy]

Since my initial contribution to this thread, I’ve read the Home Office Press Release dated Tuesday 17 January 2006, which appears to be the ‘Government announcement’ to which TracyAnn referred in her post which began this thread. As she mentioned on her earlier thread ‘legalising massage’, the former Home Secretary David Blunkett announced a Review of Prostitution in July 2004. The Review was published on 17 January this year. Those who are interested can read it at [link=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-paying-the-price/]http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-paying-the-price/[/link] .

However there appears to be nothing in the Review, or in the accompanying Press Release, which justifies TracyAnn’s statement that



To quote from the Home Office Press Release which accompanied the Review:



There appears to be nothing in the Press Release or the Review to suggest that the Government will be requiring local councils to set up compulsory registers of massage therapists. Councils already have the power to licence massage therapists, but it appears that only a minority of councils (including Redbridge and Birmingham) actually exercise this power.

Finally, if the Government really wanted to require all massage therapists to have a suitable professional qualification, it would be relatively straightforward to include ‘massage therapists’ as one of the registered ‘relevant professions’ for the purposes of the Health Professions Order. To quote from the official Government Explanatory Note:

“This Order provides for the regulation of a number of health professions (arts therapists; chiropodists; clinical scientists; dietitians; medical laboratory technicians; occupational therapists; orthoptists; paramedics; physiotherapists; prosthetists and orthotists; radiographers; and speech and language therapists. It creates a regulatory body, the Health Professions Council, which is required to set standards of education, training, conduct and performance and to put in place arrangements to ensure that they are met (article 3). It provides for the Council to keep a register of qualified members of the professions and creates four statutory co

 

[Nora]

Hi Sportstherapy[/align][/align]It is all right saying CPD's are tax deductible so should not cost us anything, my initial training was in the region of £1500 which I put down to a businessinvestment, I then did a two day MLD course which I can't remember how much that was but it was quite a few years back and that was useful so again it was put down as a business investment.[/align][/align]However if I am forced through legislation to go and dosay 3training days training per year to stay in business then the expenses work out something like this, assuming regulated trainingwould be in the region of £250 per day if we are lucky.[/align][/align]Courses £750 travel£100 Accommodation£75 Loss of earnings£1200.[/align][/align]Then you will have compulsory membership of a tradeorganisation which the price will obviously rocket once it forced to happen, so lets say £500 PA.[/align][/align]My overheads have just gone up by£2625 PA.[/align][/align]
That would not be an acceptable business expense in my mind so I would have to pass on the costs to my patients[/align][/align]That is for one of my therapies, if I have to do the same for each one then the cost would drive simply me out of business.[/align]

 

[Fritzie.]

well i think we should agree to disagree on this one

 

[akhjbrcw]

Hi to you all,

Quote from paul Crick.
I think CPD is fine in the early days when things are new and you still have a lot of questions that the schools/collages have not answered so you have to go on their advanced courses.

I whole heartedly disagree with this comment, so much that my blood boils. I dont know Paul, but to make a comment like this really makes me think that CPD should be enforced. This attitude of "I now think I know it all and cannot possibly learn anything that may benefit my clients". I think that we learn something from everyone we meet, we should be open minded and receptive to new ideas and techniques and even peoples differing ways of administering them.

I really hope that you never experience the situation where you cause harm to one of your clients because of the blinkered approach you seem to endorse.

I have also been involved in Business for 15 years and my understanding is that.
Initial Training courses cannot be regarded as a legitimate business expense, but CPD can. I appreciate that we do actually have to part with the cash, but it can be used to reduce our tax liability. Having been previously involved in a business that provided me with a good income but very little job satisfaction and lots of stress, I decided on a career change i now earn far less, but what price can you put on happiness in your job.

I cannot think of a single complimentry therapist who is only doing this for the money, it is more likely that we gain far more on a personal level than on a monetry one.
Recently there was a discussion on "jack of all trades!" I suspect from your posts Paul that you fit into this category, and if you are a member of more than one trade organisation, you should consider limiting joining them or approaching them to discuss your CPD requirements, assuming your therapies are not 'worlds apart' relevant CPD should be acceptable.

I wonder how many other organisations will offer free CPD days as Sportstherapy has indicated, and wonder if Paul would be happy to attend

I have recently 'dropped' one of my 2trade organisations for the sheer frustration caused by simply dealing with them.The way in which my personal development didnt fit neatly into one of the pigeon holes created by them was not in the least progressive in the industry.

I apolgise to Paul as when I started this rant it was not meant to be directed solely at his post, although it did contain 1 or2 subjects that prompted me.

As always I stand here to be pillaried for my comments.

Gaz

 

[oh yea!!!]

Hi Gaz[/align][/align]If I find a CPD which will teach me something that I don't know and will benefit my patients then I will go on it, otherwise there is no point in relearning something youalready use all of the time.[/align][/align]There is a wealth of information outside of the classrooms, we have to learn all of the time so we build up a library of books and search the internet and talk to other therapists, I don't know about other therapists but I suppose CPD is an integral part of my practice though not in the way it is being proposed.[/align][/align]I came out of my trade organisation the LCSP last year because they are pushing for government intervention which is in their own interest without first balloting the membership, after seeing what has happened in the USA I personally do not see it as a good thing, the government cannot put their own house in order so what make them think they can tackle complimentary and alternative medicine?[/align][/align]My therapies are remedial massage therapy and energy healing, one is scientific and the other is intuitive [/align]

 

[rv84]

thanks Paul point taken
gaz