Alternative or just a placebo?
Holistic and alternative therapies have been thrown into the media spotlight after the recent launch of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). The Council – labelled “Ofquack” by sources such as Private Eye – has been set up to crack down on “cowboys” in the world of alternative therapy.
The head of the UK’s first regulator for complementary medicine has promised to get tough with the industry and drive out cowboy therapists.
The main plank of the Council’s work will be to operate a register of practitioners. It will not judge clinics on whether therapies are effective, but rather on whether they operate a “professional and safe business”.
Maggie Dunn, co-chairman of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), said it was time customers were given proper assurances.
“I think most of the profession is operating to good standards, but we know not everyone will be able to register. If that means that people who are not up to scratch are driven out of business, I will not cry for them,” she said.
To get on to the government-backed register, therapists will have to show they have the right training and experience, abide by a code of conduct and ensure they have insurance in place.
However, applying to the register is voluntary, and there are doubts that some therapists won’t sign up – particularly businesses providing low standard services, which the Council wishes to target.
The CHNC said such therapists would be found out in the end as “within a year or so” customers will be looking to only use therapists who have met the regulator’s standards. At first the register will be open to massage and nutritional therapists, but in the coming months it will be rolled out to areas such as aromatherapy, reflexology and homeopathy.
Reactions
The online Lay Scientist blog has published a number of critics’ concerns over the CHNC, in particular that the Department of Health is “funding self-regulation by industry lobbyists”. Bloggers have said their concerns “appear to have been justified by the current outbreak of censorship on the site”.
The publication of recent CHNC minutes has also gained notoriety and sustained further public criticism of the sector. The minutes suggested the possible use of patients with good news regarding complementary therapies on www.patientvioces.co.uk – a site for patients to rate healthcare services and medicines.
One Lay Scientist blogger said: “In other words, this ‘regulatory’ body was happy to consider the idea of feeding positive reviews to a popular website. This is like OfCom going into web forums to encourage people to switch to British Telecom. It is absolutely absurd.”
The Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT) also outlined a number of concerns. Firstly, only two therapies were regulated at the time of launch in January, namely nutritional therapy and massage therapy.
It said this may leave multi-disciplinary therapists unsure as to whether to register and as they cannot inform their clients that they are regulated for all the therapies they offer, this restriction could lead to confusion amongst the general public.
Another concern was the proposed registration fee being set too high, which could be prohibitive to the multi-disciplinary therapist. However, Jennifer Wayte, Vice President of the FHT and Education
Chair of the General Council of Massage Therapies said: “I have been closely involved in the development of the independent voluntary regulator.
“I believe the Council’s role will benefit both the industry and the public.”