What should a client medical history form include?
A client medical history form should say who the client is, then ask about medical conditions, the medicines they take, any allergies, skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis, whether they’re pregnant or breastfeeding, and any reaction to a beauty treatment or product before, with room for details. It ends with a tick to confirm their answers and that they’ll tell you if anything changes, and a signature with the date. It sits alongside each treatment’s own form, not instead of it. Check the final wording with your insurer.
We make Covered Beauty, which has a ready-made new client medical history form, so we’ve said where it fits. Nothing here is legal or medical advice. Your insurer’s rules come first.
What does our medical history form ask?
Every ready-made form in Covered Beauty starts with the client’s full name, date of birth and home address, so the signed form stands on its own as a record. Then the new client medical history form asks:
- Do you have any medical conditions we should know about? (written answer)
- Are you currently taking any medications? (written answer)
- Do you have any known allergies? (written answer)
- Do you have any skin conditions (e.g. eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis)? (yes or no)
- Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? (yes or no)
- Have you had a reaction to a beauty treatment or product before? (yes or no)
- If yes, please give details (written answer)
- I confirm the information above is accurate, and I’ll let you know if anything changes. (a tick to agree)
Its note to the client says it keeps a record of their general health, separate from the treatment questions, like patch testing, that they’ll still be asked before some treatments.
Why a separate medical history form?
Each treatment form asks what that treatment needs. A brow tint form asks about a patch test and dye allergies, and nothing about a client’s circulation. The history form is the one place for the things that matter whatever they book, asked once.
BABTAC’s Good Practice Guide, from 2016, is the trade body’s guidance for its members. It says a good consultation finds out about any previous or current illnesses or disabilities, that record cards should be signed by the client and by the therapist, and that personal details and medical history should be reviewed every six months.
What else might you ask?
Our history form keeps to open questions. Several of our treatment forms ask about these by name, so if you’d rather know once, up front, you might add them:
- Do you have diabetes? BABTAC’s guide says to patch test clients with diabetes 48 hours before, not 24, and that it can cause poor circulation, loss of feeling and poor healing. Our waxing, semi-permanent makeup and electrolysis forms ask.
- Do you have epilepsy, or a history of seizures? Our LED light therapy, semi-permanent makeup and electrolysis forms ask.
- Do you have a pacemaker or any other electronic medical implant? Our electrolysis form asks.
- Are you taking blood-thinning medication? Our semi-permanent makeup, dermaplaning and electrolysis forms ask.
- Are you using Roaccutane or retinoids, or have you in the last 6 months? Our waxing, brow wax, dermaplaning and facial forms ask.
- Are you having, or have you recently had, treatment for cancer? BABTAC’s guide says invasive beauty treatments should be avoided after a recent diagnosis or during chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and an addendum printed with it says a doctor’s written consent is needed for any invasive treatment until the client has had the all clear after five years. Our massage form asks.
- Your GP’s name, and an emergency contact. Our semi-permanent makeup and electrolysis forms ask.
Keep each question short. A form that asks only what you need gets filled in properly.
How often should clients fill it in again?
In Covered Beauty you can send it once, as a private link, when someone first gets in touch, and the signed form lands on their record.
Or link it to your treatments, so it comes with every booking. When the client filled in the same form in the last 6 months, they see their previous answers and confirm nothing has changed, then sign again. After 6 months, or if something has changed, they fill in the whole form afresh. That matches BABTAC’s six-monthly review without you having to remember it. If they filled it in from a link instead, it counts for any appointment in the 30 days after, as long as you haven’t changed the form since, so they’re never asked twice.
Forms sent as a private link or handed over on your tablet are always filled in fresh, so whoever holds the device never sees another client’s earlier answers.
How do you keep it safe?
The ICO’s guidance, What is special category data?, counts medical history as data concerning health, which UK GDPR protects more strictly. Every form in Covered Beauty shows the client a short note about their health information and asks for a separate tick giving their explicit consent to it being used, and the blank form has the same tick. What else that means for you is in our guide to consent forms and UK GDPR.
Only team members you give the Forms permission can see the answers. Covered Beauty keeps signed forms for 7 years from the appointment, or from the day it was signed for a form filled in without a booking, while your account is open. If you ever leave, our terms give you 30 days after your account ends to export your data. Paper forms need locking away, and keeping for as long as your insurer asks.
How do you get it signed before they arrive?
- With their booking. Link the form to your treatments and it goes out with the confirmation, with a reminder 48 hours before if it isn’t done.
- A private link. Email it, or copy it into WhatsApp or a text. It works for 14 days and only for that client.
- On your phone or tablet. Set a kiosk PIN, then use Hand to client. It shows only their forms until someone from your team enters the PIN.
With the history form and a treatment’s own form both linked to what they’ve booked, a new client fills in both, one after the other. The signed forms land on the client’s record, ready to print or download as a PDF. See how online consultation forms work. Try the medical history form free for a week, with no card needed. Forms are on both plans, from £9 a month.
Download the free blank form
It’s an A4 PDF with every question our form asks (listed above), boxes to tick yes or no, a line for your business name, and lines for the client’s signature and yours with the date. The extra questions we suggest aren’t on it, so write in the ones you need. The foot of each page says it’s a free template from Covered Beauty. Print it, keep a few on a clipboard, and check the wording with your insurer first.
Paper still means the client fills it in once they’re in your room. Send this form before they arrive, free for a week, with no card needed.
Questions about medical history forms
What’s the difference between a medical history form and a consent form?
A medical history form records the client’s general health once, whatever they’re booked in for. A treatment consent form asks what that treatment needs, such as a patch test for a tint, and takes their consent to it. Use both: the history form when someone joins, and a consent form for each treatment.
How often should a client update their medical history?
BABTAC’s 2016 Good Practice Guide suggests reviewing a client’s personal details and medical history every six months. Ask them to tell you sooner if anything changes, such as a new medicine or a pregnancy.
Do I need the client’s consent to keep their medical history?
The ICO counts medical history as data concerning health, which UK GDPR protects more strictly, so you need a lawful basis and a separate condition for using it. Our forms ask for the client’s explicit consent with a tick of its own, online and on the blank form. Our guide to consent forms and UK GDPR explains the rest.
How long should I keep client medical history forms?
BABTAC’s 2016 Good Practice Guide tells its members to keep record cards for seven years, so check what your insurer asks for. Covered Beauty keeps signed forms for 7 years from the appointment, or from the day it was signed for a form filled in without a booking, while your account is open. If you ever leave, export them within 30 days of your account ending, as our terms say, so you still have them.
Is there a free client medical history form template?
Yes. The blank new client medical history form on this page is free to download and print, with no sign-up. You can also try the same form in Covered Beauty free for a week, edit every word and send it to new clients before their first visit.
Sources
Each page was read on 24 October 2026. Our own form questions are printed as Covered Beauty’s ready-made forms ask them today.
Other consultation form guides
Every free blank form, sorted by treatment, is on free salon consultation form templates. Or read what to put in a consultation form for:
What else should you read?
Free salon consultation form templates (UK)
Blank consultation and consent forms to print for lashes, brows, nails, waxing, SPMU, skin and tanning, each with a guide to what it asks.
Read the guide ↗Consent forms and GDPR: a guide for UK beauty salons
What counts as health data, the consent you need, how long to keep forms and what to do when a client asks you to delete them.
Read the guide ↗Online consultation forms
Send a private link or hand over your tablet, with or without a booking. Signed forms land on the client’s record.
See how it works ↗