Terms and conditions

1. About these terms

These Terms and Conditions apply to services provided by Laura Rodgers trading as Mulberry Tree Specialist Infant Feeding Support, referred to in these terms as Mulberry Tree.

Laura Rodgers is an Infant Feeding Specialist (IBCLC), NMC Registered Nurse and Health Visitor.

By booking a consultation, package or other service from Mulberry Tree, you agree to these Terms and Conditions.

These terms should be read alongside the Mulberry Tree Privacy Notice and the information provided when your service is booked.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory consumer rights.

2. Services

Mulberry Tree provides specialist infant-feeding support, including:

• home visits;
• video consultations;
• telephone consultations; and
• agreed follow-up by WhatsApp, email, SMS or telephone.

Support may include breastfeeding, bottle feeding, combination feeding, expressing and pumping, formula feeding, introducing solids, positioning and attachment, milk-supply concerns, bottle refusal, returning to work, weaning and assessment of oral function.

Services may be offered as initial consultations, follow-up consultations, antenatal consultations or packages. The content and duration of an appointment will depend on the service booked and the individual circumstances of the family.

3. Professional scope

Laura provides assessment, advice and support within her professional competence and professional responsibilities. This may include:

• taking a relevant feeding and health history;
• observing feeding;
• assessing maternal and infant factors affecting feeding;
• assessment of oral function for feeding purposes;
• developing individual feeding plans;
• diagnosis of common lactation-related conditions within professional competence, including mastitis-spectrum conditions and occluded ducts;
• identifying clinical concerns or red flags;
• reviewing progress; and
• recommending further assessment or treatment where appropriate.

Where findings suggest a medical condition, structural abnormality or need for further clinical assessment, the client will be advised to seek assessment from an appropriate healthcare professional.

4. Limits of the service

Mulberry Tree does not provide emergency medical care.

Laura does not:

• prescribe medicines or antibiotics;
• perform tongue-tie division;
• provide emergency treatment;
• undertake investigations requiring laboratory testing or medical imaging; or
• diagnose or manage conditions outside her professional competence.

Where appropriate, Laura may advise you to contact your GP, midwife, health visitor, NHS infant-feeding team, tongue-tie service, NHS 111, urgent care or emergency services.

Mulberry Tree services do not replace medical, NHS or emergency care where this is required.

5. Urgent and emergency concerns

Mulberry Tree is not an emergency service.

WhatsApp, email, SMS and voicemail are not continuously monitored.

If you believe that you or your baby is seriously or acutely unwell, you should seek appropriate medical help rather than waiting for a response from Mulberry Tree.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include your GP, NHS 111, an urgent treatment service or 999.

6. Booking

An appointment is confirmed when:

1. Mulberry Tree has accepted the booking; and
2. any payment required to secure the appointment has been received.

Payment is normally required in full at the time of booking, unless another arrangement has been agreed.

The applicable fee and what is included in the service will be made clear before the booking is completed. Prices are not set out in these Terms and Conditions.

7. Information provided by clients

You should provide information that is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge. This includes relevant information about:

• your health;
• your baby's health;
• medication;
• pregnancy and birth history where relevant;
• feeding history;
• previous assessments or treatment; and
• any material change in circumstances before or during the period of support.

If important information changes, please tell Laura as soon as reasonably possible.

8. Cancellation and rescheduling by the client

Mulberry Tree recognises that plans can change, particularly when caring for a baby.

For ordinary appointment cancellations:

• more than 24 hours' notice: no cancellation charge and any payment for the cancelled appointment will be refunded;
• less than 24 hours' notice: Mulberry Tree may retain or charge 50% of the appointment fee;
• failure to attend without notice: Mulberry Tree may retain or charge the full appointment fee.

Where Mulberry Tree is able to refill the cancelled appointment, Laura may waive or refund the cancellation charge.

Laura may also exercise reasonable discretion in cases of illness, emergency or other exceptional circumstances.

Any cancellation charge will be applied fairly and will not override statutory cancellation rights.

9. Cancellation by Mulberry Tree

Laura may occasionally need to rearrange or cancel an appointment because of illness, emergency, unsafe travelling conditions or another circumstance genuinely outside her reasonable control.

If Mulberry Tree cancels an appointment, you will be offered either:

• an alternative appointment; or
• a refund for the affected service.

If you are not at fault, Mulberry Tree will not retain payment for a service that it does not provide.

10. Statutory 14-day cancellation rights

Where a booking is made at a distance or away from Mulberry Tree's business premises and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 apply, you will normally have a statutory right to cancel. For a service contract, the cancellation period ends at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into.

You can exercise this right by making any clear statement that you wish to cancel, including by emailing laura@mulberry-tree.co.uk. A model cancellation form is provided separately, but you do not have to use it.

If you validly exercise the statutory right to cancel, Mulberry Tree will reimburse payments due to be refunded without undue delay and no later than 14 days after being informed of your decision to cancel. Reimbursement will normally be made using the same means of payment used for the original transaction unless you expressly agree otherwise, and no fee will be charged for the reimbursement. These statutory rights are separate from Mulberry Tree's ordinary 24-hour appointment cancellation policy.

11. Starting a service within the 14-day cancellation period

Infant-feeding support is frequently needed before the statutory 14-day cancellation period has expired.

If you want Mulberry Tree to begin providing a service during this period, you must make an express request for the service to start early. Mulberry Tree records this request in the booking/intake process before the service begins.

If you subsequently cancel within the statutory cancellation period after the service has begun at your request, you may be required to pay a reasonable proportion of the agreed price for the service already provided.

If the service is fully performed during the cancellation period following your express request, and you have acknowledged that your statutory cancellation right will be lost once the service has been fully performed, the right to cancel may end at that point.

The booking/intake process also records your acknowledgement that, where the service is fully performed during the cancellation period following your request to start early, your statutory right to cancel is lost once the service has been fully performed.

12. Packages

Where a package contains more than one consultation or element of support, the booking information will explain what is included and any period within which it should be used.

If a package is cancelled after part of it has already been provided, any refund will take account of the services already supplied and any legitimate cancellation loss.

Mulberry Tree will not automatically retain payment for unused services where doing so would be disproportionate or inconsistent with your statutory rights.

13. Travel and home visits

Home visits are available within Cumbria, subject to availability and location.

Additional costs may apply for extended travel, parking or other exceptional travel expenses. Any additional travel-related cost will be explained and agreed before the booking is confirmed.

For a home consultation, please:

• provide relevant access or parking information;
• tell Laura if anyone in the household has a significant contagious illness;
• ensure pets do not present a safety problem during the consultation; and
• provide a reasonably smoke- and vape-free environment while the consultation is taking place.

Laura may postpone or stop a home visit if she reasonably considers that it is unsafe to continue.

14. Remote consultations

Remote consultations may be provided using:

• FaceTime;
• WhatsApp video; or
• telephone.

Video and telephone consultations are not routinely recorded.

Where appropriate, Laura may confirm:

• your identity;
• the baby's identity;
• who is present;
• that you are comfortable discussing confidential information; and
• your location where this may be relevant to urgent escalation.

A remote assessment will only continue where Laura considers that sufficient information can be obtained to provide safe and appropriate support.

Where an adequate assessment cannot be completed remotely, an in-person assessment or assessment by another appropriate healthcare professional may be recommended.

15. Consent

Consent is an ongoing process throughout a consultation.

Laura will explain proposed assessments or interventions where appropriate and seek your agreement.

You may decline or stop any element of an assessment or consultation.

Clinical consent is separate from the lawful basis on which Mulberry Tree processes personal and health information under data-protection law.

16. Follow-up support

Unless the particular service states otherwise, an initial full consultation includes seven days of follow-up support.

Follow-up is intended for:

• clarification of the agreed feeding plan;
• brief updates;
• questions arising while implementing recommendations; and
• review of straightforward progress.

Follow-up messaging is not a substitute for a new clinical assessment. If a new or more complex concern develops, Laura may recommend another consultation or assessment by another healthcare professional.

Laura will normally aim to respond to routine messages within one working day, but messaging is not continuously monitored and must not be used for urgent or emergency concerns.

Packages or particular services may include a different period of follow-up. Where this applies, it will be stated at booking.

17. Photographs and videos

Where clinically useful, you may choose to send photographs or videos to assist with assessment.

Clinically relevant photographs or videos may be retained as part of the confidential clinical record. Unnecessary or duplicate copies will be deleted when they are no longer required.

Photographs, videos, testimonials or identifiable case information will not be used for marketing, advertising, social media, teaching or other promotional purposes without separate specific permission.

18. Clinical records and privacy

Mulberry Tree creates and maintains confidential clinical records.

Personal information is handled in accordance with the Mulberry Tree Privacy Notice.

Clinical records relating to care of a child will normally be retained until the child's 25th birthday, unless there is an appropriate reason to retain particular information for a different period.

Relevant clinical information received through WhatsApp, email, SMS or other communications may be transferred into the clinical record.

19. Communication with healthcare professionals

Where communication with another healthcare professional may assist your care, Laura will normally discuss this with you first.

With appropriate agreement, Mulberry Tree may provide relevant information or a consultation summary to professionals such as a:

• GP;
• midwife;
• health visitor;
• NHS infant-feeding team; or
• other healthcare professional involved in your or your baby's care.

Information may be shared without consent where this is lawful and necessary, including in some safeguarding situations, serious emergencies or where disclosure is required by law.

Only information relevant to the purpose of the disclosure will be shared.

20. Safeguarding and confidentiality

Information provided during consultations will normally be treated as confidential.

There are circumstances in which confidentiality cannot be absolute.

Laura may disclose relevant information where this is necessary and lawful because:

• a child or vulnerable person may be at risk of harm;
• there is a serious risk to health or safety;
• disclosure is required by law; or
• disclosure is necessary to protect life or physical safety.

Where safe and appropriate, Laura would normally discuss such action with you.

21. Feeding plans and clinical advice

Advice is based on the information reasonably available at the time of the consultation.

Health, feeding and family circumstances can subsequently change.

You should therefore:

• tell Laura about significant changes;
• seek further assessment where advised; and
• seek medical attention where a concern falls outside the scope of Mulberry Tree's service.

Laura will provide services with reasonable care and skill but cannot guarantee a particular feeding or clinical outcome.

22. Client responsibilities

Clients are asked, so far as reasonably possible, to:

• provide accurate and relevant information;
• inform Laura of significant changes;
• ask if advice or a plan is unclear;
• tell Laura if they do not wish to proceed with an assessment;
• seek further professional or medical assessment where advised; and
• seek urgent assistance rather than relying on Mulberry Tree messaging in an emergency.

23. Liability and consumer rights

Mulberry Tree will provide its services with reasonable care and skill.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or restricts:

• your statutory consumer rights;
• liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence;
• liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
• any other liability that cannot legally be excluded.

Mulberry Tree will not be responsible for an adverse consequence to the extent that it results from material information being withheld or information supplied by the client being materially inaccurate, where Laura could not reasonably have been expected to know that the information was incomplete or incorrect.

24. Complaints

Mulberry Tree aims to address concerns promptly and fairly.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service, please contact Laura Rodgers at laura@mulberry-tree.co.uk.

A separate Complaints Procedure will set out how formal complaints are handled.

Making a complaint does not affect your statutory rights.

25. Changes to these terms

Mulberry Tree may update these Terms and Conditions as the business or legal requirements change.

The terms applying to a booking will normally be those provided when the booking was made.

Mulberry Tree will not retrospectively make a material change to an existing booking that disadvantages the client without their agreement.

26. Governing law

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Nothing in this clause removes any mandatory consumer right concerning where legal proceedings may be brought.

27. Contact details

Laura Rodgers trading as Mulberry Tree Specialist Infant Feeding Support

Business correspondence address only (no client appointments at this address):
4 Lake View
Kirkland
Cumbria
CA26 3XZ

Email: laura@mulberry-tree.co.uk

Website: www.mulberry-tree.co.uk