Well, of course we already knew this but at last it has been officially recognised by the NHS!
Patients are routinely denied access to homeopathy and other therapies throughout the UK because the NHS has said that there is no evidence that it works. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety now has significant evidence that homeopathy, and a range of other traditional therapies do work ((for the full DOHSSPS report see http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hss/complementary-alternative-medicine.htm) A project, run by “Get Well UK™” in Northern Ireland for over a year, has found that acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, osteopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy can offer significant health improvements to NHS patients. A total of 713 patients were referred by 9 GP practices in Belfast and Londonderry for treatment by local practitioners. After treatment, 81% reported an improvement in their physical health and 79% in their mental health. The majority of patients, 84%, linked improvements in their health and wellbeing directly to the treatments they had received, and 94% said they would recommend it to others with a similar condition.
Patients receiving homeopathic treatment reported an average 54% improvement in their health and wellbeing. Other therapies reported similar results.
Boo Armstrong, founder of Get Well UK™, says of the results: “The results from this project speak for themselves – complementary therapies improve health and save money. These findings are consistent with other service evaluation from across the UK. A personalised health service will need protocols to include complementary therapies.â€
The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (ARH) has been campaigning for improved access to homeopathy via the NHS in the belief that homeopathy should not be restricted to people who can afford to pay privately for this treatment. Although a growing number of people are doing so, and have found homeopathy to be both effective and safe, the ARH has long recognised that large numbers of people cannot afford to do so.
Steve Scrutton, ARH Registrar, said that whilst every major political party is now advocating personal choice in health treatment, not one is offering patients the option of using homeopathy instead of conventional treatment. This DOH report provides ample evidence that the patients who took part in the project benefited, that the GPs were impressed with the results. It has also suggested there could be significant savings in both the cost of treatment, and the pressures on secondary health servicesâ€.
The ARH is now calling on the NHS to extend this project to other parts of the UK.
In the meantime, if you are based in Essex, you can find a selection of complementary therapists near you.
1 Comment
This is a race now, How quickly can we get people to hear what these experts have said before it is crushed under a mountain of negative so called Scientific reasoning” which will tell us that although we feel 100% better after a Reflexology treatment, that actually it is “mumbo jumbo” and not “scientifically proven to work”.
I don’t really care if it is scientifically proven in laboratory conditions, I know that after my clients leave me after a Reflexology or Massage session that they feel instantly better. Many of them feel so much better that they can’t help but to phone me afterwards to tell me quite how much better. That is proof enough for me.
It is the same with the Ayurvedic Oils, I am told by my clients that ten minutes after putting them on painful joints they had releif. However, because no “scientist” has proven what phytochemicals within the oils are working, they have also been labled as ineffective, and guess what? I am not allowed to tell you of the medical benefits, however my clients are doing a better job of getting the word around than I could ever do!!!