Founder of ESPA, Sue Harmsworth MBE is collaborating with spa industry leaders to create the Standard Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC), a recognised standard of training for providing spa treatments to those living with cancer. SATCC will officially launch on 21 September 2020.
SATCC will provide those affected by cancer with access to appropriately qualified spa therapists and safe and inclusive spa treatments, from diagnosis to remission. The standard will also support the industry with an accredited platform that also signposts relevant training courses for staff.
One in two people in the UK is expected to experience cancer in their lifetime*, and a number of medical commentators have voiced concerns that the biggest legacy of lockdown will turn out to be the number of missed or late cancer diagnoses and the consequences of those**.
While Sue and her colleagues have been working on SATCC for a year, the timing for launch is now more pertinent than ever. The anticipated uptick in late cancer diagnosis due to the pandemic means that there is even more reason to make sure cancer patients can access much needed spa-therapies. With reports that over 2 million people have been left waiting for NHS cancer screening***, tests and treatments as a result of Covid-19, the SATCC offers a database to search spas which offer therapists trained to provide spa treatments for those living with cancer.
Sue Harmsworth MBE, SATCC founder, said: “Hearing you have cancer can evoke a range of emotions from anger and disbelief to shock and sorrow, all of which compound the physical toll of the disease and its treatments. Every person diagnosed with cancer copes in their own way and our aim at SATCC is to ensure that spas and wellness therapies remain an option for those dealing with what will possibly be one of the greatest challenges they’ll face. Together, as the spa industry, we have a duty to embrace those living with cancer and help enhance their lives.”
Over fifty years’ of holistic wellness and spa experience have brought Sue, who founded ESPA in 1992 and has designed over 600 spas worldwide, to establish SATCC with accredited UK spa industry partners including Spabreaks.com and Think Tree Hub.
Sue said: “It’s time for the wellness, spa and beauty industry to wholeheartedly support those living with cancer and offer them treatments that positively impact their mental and physical wellbeing. SATCC will create clarity for the spa industry and give confidence to consumers about the availability of safe treatments for those who have suffered from cancer.”
She added: “The independent, expert-led SATCC advisory board has in excess of 327 years independent experience and has trained over 10,000 therapists, will ensure the industry and spa consumers alike can move forward with confidence.”
Abi Selby, founder of Spabreaks.com – one of the founding partners of SATCC, said: “We’ve spent a decade lobbying for and implementing change to ensure those living with cancer are not excluded from spas and wellness treatments so we warmly welcome SATCC. We are committed to supporting SATCC and plan to work closely with them and our industry partners to ensure that both spa therapists and spa users get the advice and support they need, at a time when it is even more confusing to navigate what is open and available than ever due to C-19.”
Spabreaks.com will launch ‘Our Safe Hands for Cancer Collection’, a collection of spas that are SATCC-accredited to enable those living with cancer to find the nearest certified spa. Abi added: “Access to appropriate treatments offered by trained therapists is going to be much easier and I’m delighted Spabreaks.com remains at the vanguard of the movement to open up spas to people with cancer.”
ThinkTreeHub.com, an online professional association for the complementary and spa therapy industry is also an SATCC founding partner. Kush Kumar, ThinkTreeHub.com CEO says: “As a member of the SATCC I believe in the key standards and messages of support, guidance, training and application of massage on those touched by cancer. The focus and intention of SATCC is to make massage for those touched by cancer accessible to all.”
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