Lockdown, loss and adaptation

Furlough and lockdown: two words that are now synonymous with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of this crisis, Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation on 23 March 2020, ‘from this evening, I must give the British people a very simple instruction: you must stay at home’ (Conservatives.com, 2020).

Months later, and the crisis has changed. An easing of the lockdown restrictions has been introduced; however, the message is neither simple nor clear. As medical aesthetic practitioners, we face a return to our clinics, albeit with a restricted portfolio and practice, and some colleagues tell me they have perceived returner fear. There is no doubt in my mind that the lockdown was far easier to implement than the unlocking process is proving to be; adaptation will be key for us all in successful management of returning to aesthetic practice.

We have all undergone so much change, and all within the space of just 3 short months, which seemed to last forever. We have all experienced and witnessed tragedy and loss. Now, there is uncertainty, anxiety and fear within a world that appears irrevocably different.