Complementary therapies could be under threat

A whole wave of complementary treatments and the effectiveness of the therapists who deliver them could be seriously undermined, leaving consumers with a much more limited choice of treatments and a less truly holistic approach being taken to those treatments.

This is the message from a leading body in the field of complementary medicine who believes that would be the result if appropriate self regulation is not taken up by therapists across the country and a statutory self regulation type model that is only concerned with protecting the public, becomes the sole option available to them.

The British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA), which was established in 1986, is the only voluntary, non-profit making umbrella body for complementary medicine in this country. Its governing council is concerned that the threat of over-zealous regulation from government supported bodies could stifle the variety of treatments given in the future and threaten the employment of many hundreds of therapists across the UK. It believes that voluntary self regulation, sympathetic to the holistic values of all complementary therapies, is a better option for therapist and patient both now and for the future.

Terry Cullen chairman of the BCMA said: “What we want to achieve is a movement of self-regulation for therapists across an extensive range of different complementary treatments. We want to protect the right of the therapist to take a truly holistic approach to treatments which would not be possible with current voluntary self regulation philosophy. There is no one prescription that fits all in complementary medicine - you need to consider the unique requirements of the patient to find out how best to help them.

“We do believe that priority has to be given to protecting the public from poor quality treatments delivered through inadequate training or poor clinical discipline and will be incorporating measures to avoid this situation. At the same time we are very focused on providing the best health protection for the public by ensuring the survival of recognised individual therapies that are not diluted nor stifled by unnecessary bureaucratic regulations,” Mr Cullen added.

Over the last 12 months the BCMA has been working closely with many other groups to find a way of adopting a policy of tailored self-regulation across the field of complementary medicine.

“We are now in the final stages of providing our members and therefore the public, with a unique voluntary process that will ensure quality standards of training and ongoing education. It will also commit therapists to an ethics and disciplinary process as well as standards of practice which would be applied by an independent council to ensure that the public is protected at all times.”

Anyone wishing to know about the BCMA’s work can contact the administration office at the BCMA on 0845 345 5977 or visit the website at www.bcma.co.uk.

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