Regulations and legal obligations of a massage therapist
OK, so this maybe isn’t the most glamorous topic but it’s important to me that I’m clear about the situation so that you can be as informed as possible when making choices about your body and what you do with it.
The bottom line is: massage therapy is not regulated by statute in the UK, so there are actually no legal obligations specifically related to massage that therapists must fulfil, and there is no professional body that a therapist must be licensed by in order to practice. Nevertheless, there do exist several organisations which perform a regulatory function, albeit opt-in for the therapist. Two prominent bodies are the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT, that I’m a member of) and the Complementary Therapists Association (CThA). Each organisation has similar requirements to join, such has requiring the applicant to have passed a level 3 diploma and have professional insurance, and each offers similar membership benefits. You’ll see my FHT membership proudly displayed at the bottom of every page on this site.
Sitting over these, and overlapping in many respects, is the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), an independent, government funded regulator for massage and other therapies. CNHC membership is required to be referred by NHS doctors, and also provides exemption from many local councils’ licensing requirements.
Aside from this, there are other obligations that any professional must fulfil, chief among them professional insurance. Without this the therapist will be at considerable risk of bankruptcy should a client relationship turn sour and legal proceedings start. Nobody ever expects a massage to go so badly wrong that it ends up in legal proceedings, but were it to… let’s just say that insurance is very cheap when compared to the potential personal liability should something go wrong with a treatment. And if there is any kind of employee relationship, even a casual or occasional one, then employer’s liability insurance is a must. I’m self-employed and work on my own, but if I were ever to bring someone on then this would be top of my list.
All businesses are required by law to manage risks in the workplace, which for massage therapists means taking reasonable steps to prevent harm to clients and to themselves. Conducting a risk assessment on a treatment space is very straightforward and part of every home visit. You probably won’t even notice me doing it, but do feel free to ask for it.
Finally, any business with a client list must abide by the Data Protection Act 2018. This Act of Parliament, requires that personal data: must only be collected for legitimate purposes; must be processed lawfully and transparently; must be only what is necessary for the specific purpose; must be kept up to date; not be kept any longer than necessary; and must be processed securely. Even sole trader therapists like myself must get their clients’ explicit consent to keep records, and are accountable for how personal data is processed. I have a data protection statement on the footer of every page so please take a look and see what data I keep and how I process it. Spoiler alert: very very little.
Training Required
As shown above, along with many complementary therapies there is no legal requirement for a massage therapist to have undertaken any training. And while anyone can call themselves a massage therapist without being a member of any association, in order to join one the therapist must have a level 3 diploma, like me.
The diploma, accredited by International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC) and equivalent to National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 3 requires training over six months, including over 80 hours of classroom time as well as 36 treatments as part of the course..
Further long form training can be taken in order to specialise in specific areas, such as sports massage, which has level 4 and 5 qualifications available. And there are a variety of one or two day courses for therapists to enhance their practice in areas such as Indian head massage, Thai massage, and deep tissue massage.
Next steps
I hope through this series you’ve learned a bit about massage therapy: its history, benefits, risks, and the regulatory environment around it in the UK. But most of all I hope you set aside some time and book a massage. I do home visits in and around Bath, UK, and also have a lovely room in a spa in town. I’d love to spend some time working away your stresses and strains, so go ahead and book now, or get in touch if you have any questions!