With about 20 per cent of the population now using various forms of CAMs – and spending an estimated £1.6 billion a year - the government accepts that both complementary and alternative therapies have become major industries.

The peers’ report drew clear distinctions between complementary therapies which worked with orthodox medicine and are capable of being subjected to properly conducted scientific studies and “New Age” styled alternative remedies.

Among therapies defined as “complementary” by the Lords were the Alexander Technique, aromatherapy, and bodywork therapies such as massage; counselling, hypnotherapy, nutritional medicine and yoga. Those regarded as “alternative” included crystal therapy, dowsing, iridology, kinesiology and radion.

Today Health Minister John Hutton announced the start of consultations on how both acupuncture and herbal medicines could be brought under statutory regulation.

This would mean that only those practitioners with accepted qualifications could be registered and allowed to continue practising. Statutory control of both osteopathy and chiropractors was introduced some years ago.

As well as looking at statutory controls for acupuncture and herbal medicine practitioners, the government issued another consultation paper on the possible regulation of currently unlicensed herbal remedies made up to meet the needs of individual patients.”

HEART OF ALL HEALTH SERVICES

Bill also passes on the following press release to members:

- Health minister announces plans to regulate support workers and complementary therapists.

- Health minister John Hutton today announced a wide-ranging package of regulatory reform to place patient safety at the centre of all health services.

- The Department of Health published two public consultation papers: to extend regulation to a wider range of Health Care staff; and proposals to regulate herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners.

John Hutton said: "In order to ensure public protection, the scope of professional self-regulation needs to be widened.

Professional staff who are currently unregulated are increasingly working as part of a wider healthcare team to provide efficient and high quality care. Proper arrangements therefore need to be put in place to regulate the practice of all staff who provide direct care to patients. We are considering the introduction of compulsory regulation for all these health care support workers, who will be subject to discipline if their actions or behaviour fall short of accepted standards.

Alongside these traditional health care workers, people are increasingly turning to complementary medicine. We estimate that there are over 4,000 practising acupuncturists and herbalists in the UK, none of whom currently have to adhere to professional standards of training.

These proposals to regulate the industry will reassure patients and the public that herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners are not only suitably qualified, but also competent and up-to-date with developments in practice. The professions welcome the work undertaken by the government in this area, and the opportunity it represents to reassure the public of their competence to treat patients."

The consultation document "Regulation of Health Care staff in England and Wales" sets out the Government's proposals for the proposed regulation of healthcare assistants, therapy assistants, all sectors of the healthcare scientist workforce, assistant practitioners, and those undertaking similar roles across a wide range of healthcare settings.

Use of these standards will not only increase patient safety, but also give professional staff the confidence to delegate more skilled work to support workers, allowing them to further develop their role.

Karen Jennings, Head of Health for UNISON, said: "UNISON has nearly 100,000 Health Care assistants and we have long called for proper regulation to establish minimum standards of skills and expertise before they are able to lay a hand on a patient.”

"Health Care assistants are a vital part of the NHS team and yet the training they receive varies enormously from trust to trust. We want to see an end to the training lottery, and proper recognition of the valuable contribution that they make to patient care."

Proposals contained in the document "Regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture" would mean that those who meet the required standards of competence will be included on a register of practitioners who are entitled to practise. Sanctions, including removal from the register, will be applied

to those whose fitness to practise is impaired.”

Bill also reports the following written Commons answer:

Hansard - 25 Mar 2004: Column 1048W - Complementary Medicines

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the availability of complementary medicines through the NHS. [162042]

Miss Melanie Johnson: National Health Service access to complementary therapies is at the discretion of individual trusts and clinicians. A formal mechanism for commissioning primary medical services from a variety of providers will be available to primary care trusts from 1 April. This could be used to commission clinically appropriate and cost-effective

complementary therapies to help meet the needs of the local community.”

At the time of writing it has not been revealed what this formal mechanism is to be but it does sound like a promising development.

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