A practitioner's parental, medical or other extended leave does not have to cost a clinic its clients. Clients stay through a leave period when a locum or covering practitioner is named early, their loyalty and membership balance keeps running exactly as before, and the return date is communicated clearly. The risk is silence and uncertainty, not the leave itself.
Why does a practitioner's leave put client retention at risk?
Cosmetic and injectable treatments are trust-based, and that trust is usually built in the person holding the needle or the device, not the name on the clinic's sign. When that person disappears from the booking system without explanation, a client's first assumption is rarely "they must be on leave". It is more often "something has changed here" or "I should look elsewhere while I wait to find out."
This is a different risk to a practitioner leaving the clinic for good, where the business is unchanged and only the treating relationship moves with them. Extended leave is temporary by design: the practitioner is coming back, and the entire task is making sure clients are still there when they do.
It is also different from a relocation or rebrand or a change of ownership, where the business itself is changing. During extended leave, the pricing, the booking system and the business stay exactly the same. Only one person's diary is empty for a defined period.
How much notice should clients get before a practitioner's leave starts?
Treat it as a staged announcement around the leave date, not a single email sent the week before. Where the leave is planned, such as parental leave, clients with an upcoming or ongoing treatment plan should hear about it at least four to six weeks before it starts. Unplanned medical leave will not always allow that much runway; communicate as early as the clinic reasonably can instead.
The notice itself should cover four things:
- Who is covering appointments, or the plan if no locum is being engaged.
- The expected return date or window, even if it is approximate.
- What happens to any package, course or membership the client is partway through.
- Confirmation that the client's loyalty balance and account are unaffected either way.
Should a locum treat your existing clients, or should some appointments wait?
The right call depends on the length of the leave and whether any client is mid-course. A short leave of two or three weeks with nothing time-sensitive on the books can often run with no locum at all, appointments simply held until the practitioner is back. A longer leave, or one that falls across an active package or membership commitment, usually needs cover so those clients are not left waiting for months.
One thing does not move regardless of clinic preference: a locum treating cosmetic or injectable clients needs registration and qualifications equivalent to the practitioner they are covering. AHPRA's scope of practice requirements apply to the individual holding the appointment, not to the clinic's staffing plan around them.
| Option | Best for | What the clinic needs to manage |
|---|---|---|
| Full locum coverage | Longer leave, or a book with clients mid-package | Sourcing a suitably registered locum well ahead of the leave date |
| Partial (maintenance-only) coverage | Clients who need a treatment topped up but can wait on new courses | Being clear with clients about what the locum will and will not start |
| No locum, clients wait | Short leave with no client mid-course | Giving clients an exact return date so waiting feels intentional, not uncertain |
Which option fits depends on the individual clinic's book and leave length. Use this as a starting framework, not a fixed rule.
A locum administering Schedule 4 or other regulated cosmetic treatments needs the same registration and scope of practice as any other treating practitioner. Leave arrangements change who is in the chair; they do not change what AHPRA requires of them.
What happens to loyalty points and membership billing while a practitioner is away?
Nothing changes for the client, provided the loyalty and membership program belongs to the clinic and not to any one practitioner. A client's points balance, membership tier and payment schedule should keep running exactly as they did before the leave started, no matter who is administering their treatment on a given visit.
That only holds if the program was built at the clinic level in the first place. A loyalty system tracked in one practitioner's personal appointment notes, or a paper card kept at the front desk, does not survive a staffing change cleanly. A clinic membership program that every practitioner and the locum can see in the same dashboard does.
How do you welcome clients back without losing them to the locum?
The return is a second retention risk, not just the leave itself. A locum who has delivered six months of good results can become a client's preferred practitioner by accident, simply because nobody managed the handover back.
Let clients already mid-course with the locum finish that course with the locum rather than forcing a switch on the returning practitioner's first week. Give the returning practitioner a proper reintroduction, not a quiet reappearance on the roster, and use the same channel that announced the leave to announce the return.
A client who can see their points balance, their treatment history and their usual practitioner's return date in one place barely notices that someone else was covering for six weeks.
Clinic App is built for exactly this kind of continuity. Loyalty, membership and treatment history sit with the clinic in one branded app, visible to every practitioner and any locum, not locked inside one person's login. The booking system stays whatever it already is. The relationship stays with the clinic, whoever is on shift that week.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to bring in a locum, or can appointments just wait?
It depends on the length of the leave and whether any client is mid-course. A short leave with no active treatment plans in progress can often run with no locum at all, with appointments simply held until the practitioner returns. A longer leave, or one that falls in the middle of a package or membership commitment, usually needs cover so those clients are not left waiting for months.
What happens to a client's loyalty points while my clinic uses a locum?
Nothing changes, provided the loyalty and membership program is built at the clinic level rather than tracked by one practitioner. A client's points balance, membership tier and payment schedule keep running exactly as before, regardless of who is administering the treatment that visit.
How much notice should I give clients before a practitioner's extended leave starts?
Aim for at least four to six weeks where the leave is planned, such as parental leave. Tell clients who is covering (or the plan if no locum is engaged), the expected return window, and confirm that their loyalty balance and any current package are unaffected. Unplanned medical leave will not always allow this much notice; communicate as early as you can instead.
Does a locum need the same qualifications as the practitioner they are covering for?
Yes. AHPRA registration and scope of practice apply to the individual administering a treatment, not to the clinic's staffing arrangement around them. A locum treating cosmetic or injectable clients needs registration and qualifications equivalent to the practitioner they are covering.
