
The consultation in medical aesthetics is the start of the patient journey and helps shape a framework for patient safety and satisfaction with the outcomes. If you are considering an aesthetic treatment, then a quality consultation prior to your treatment is incredibly important.
Your treatment is a much more complex process than just the performance of the treatment itself and this begins with the consultation. There are many reasons why a detailed consultation with a medically qualified aesthetic practitioner should form an integral part of the process therefore in this blog I will explore some of these reasons in more detail.
BUILDING TRUST AND RAPPORT
The consultation provides an opportunity to get to know your practitioner and build a trusting relationship for your aesthetics journey. It allows time for the patient and medical practitioner to meet and discuss the patient’s areas of concerns, their goals and realistic desired outcome. This means the practitioner can explore and explain treatment options ,ensuring the patient is fully informed about what the treatment entails, any risks and potential side effects as well as any pre and post treatment considerations they need to be aware off. At Hidden Lines we not only provide this information verbally but by email as it can be a lot of information to remember.
ASKING QUESTIONS
As with any aesthetic treatment, the consultation is not only there for the medical practitioner but also to give a chance for the patient to ask questions or share any concerns they may have about any aspect of the treatments. This may include how long will it take? Is there any downtime? Will it hurt? How much will it cost? These are just a few of the questions that come up regularly and no question is ever too foolish to ask. It is important the patient understand their treatment options and guiding them is part of the process therefore they should never feel worried about asking a question.
The patient should also want to know more about the practitioner. This may include, what are their qualifications? (remember anyone can give themselves the title "aesthetic practitioner") How long have they been specialising in aesthetic medicine? Are they registered with Health Improvement Scotland? Are they regulated by a governing body i.e. NMC or GMC for example? Are they an independent prescriber?
Many of the aesthetic treatments involve prescription only medications therefore patients should always have a face-to-face consultation with the prescriber before treatment. Only this month the Nursing and Midwifery counsel(NMC) fitness to practice committee imposed a striking off order on a nurse who was prescribing remotely. The NMC states ‘the consultation should take place face to face to allow the prescriber to examine the patients skin and muscles to ensure suitability…remote prescribing is unlikely to be suitable for injectable cosmetic treatments’.
Additionally, if the practitioner is not a prescriber ask how they will access any emergency medications to manage any treatment complications that may arise. How else would they manage those complications, think infections, nodules, allergic reactions, vascular occlusion? The patient should also enquire about what products are used in the clinic and where the practitioner orders them from. At Hidden Lines we only use reputable established brands delivered to us from an approved pharmacy distributor called Healthxchange or order direct from the company.
A patient should always be able to rely on safe and timely after care and sending you to your GP or A&E is not an appropriate response. Hidden Lines can be contacted out of clinic hours to answer any concerns or address any issues.
MEDICAL HISTORY
During the consultation it is crucial for the practitioner to discuss the patients’ medical history. This is vital to ensure it is safe for the patient to undergo the treatments or if the treatment procedure needs to be adjusted to keep the patient safe. This should include any current or previous medical conditions, surgeries, or any prescription or over the counter medications that may impact the aesthetic treatment or be an absolute contraindication.
EXAMINATION
The consultation should include an assessment of the specific area of concerns as well as the surrounding areas to help decide on the best treatment. For example, someone presenting with volume loss in their lower face may need treatment to the midface. Muscles should be assessed in both a static and dynamic movement and skin quality considered. The practitioner will also need to assess the patients face from the front and side to consider the overall profile. Photographs should be taken which helps both the practitioner and the patient assess the before and after results and evaluate the progress of a treatment journey.
CREATE AN INDIVIDUALISED TREATMENT PLAN
After a discussion about what the patient would like to achieve, what is realistic for them and what treatment options would be suitable, a tailored treatment plan to suit the patient needs and budget can be devised. This may be combining a few different treatments over a few appointments to achieve the best possible results.
CONSENT
Before any treatment the patient should be able to provide informed consent and can only do this if all the steps discussed above have been completed. At Hidden Lines we will ask the patient to sign a consent form, which we can send out prior to treatment to allow time to digest the information.
COOLING OFF PERIOD
There should never be any pressure to agree to any treatment and all patients should be encouraged to have a cooling off period to consider all their options before committing to any treatment. This also provides the opportunity to ask any other questions that the patient only thinks about after the consultation.
If you are interested in booking in for a free of charge, no obligation consultation, you can do so by emailing bookings@hiddenlinesaesthetics.co.uk
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