Rules for alternative medicine

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1160862,0
0.html

John Carvel
Wednesday March 3, 2004
The Guardian

Acupuncturists and herbalists are to be regulated by the government
and barred from practising if they fail to meet professional
standards, under plans announced yesterday by John Hutton, the
health minister.

He said regulation would reassure patients that practitioners were
qualified, competent and up to date with developments.

A complementary and alternative medicine council would be set up
with powers similar to those of the General Medical Council for
setting minimum training standards and striking off anyone guilty of
malpractice.

Mike O'Farrell, chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council,
said it had been campaigning for statutory regulation of
acupuncture, but the government's approach would require further
discussion in the profession.

Mr Hutton also announced plans for putting 300,000 healthcare
assistants on the same footing as other professional groups. They
will have to be registered with a professional body, properly
trained, and disciplined.

The initiative - affecting nearly a quarter of the NHS workforce -
was welcomed last night by the trade union Unison as a means of
providing a ladder of opportunity for thousands of relatively low-
paid staff.

The Department of Health said it viewed the measure as an extra
safeguard for patients. At present, healthcare assistants deliver
much of nursing care. But there are no agreed standards for
establishing whether they have the required competence and no system
for stopping them practising elsewhere in the NHS if a hospital
finds them unfit.