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CAM Regulator Calms Fears

Threats from the yet to be launched CNHPC that it would be regulating CAM therapists ‘with or without the support of Professional Associations’ from April 2008 we understand were greeted with surprise by the existing regulator, The General Regulatory Council for Complementary Therapies (GRCCT).

The professional associations have been policing individual therapies for decades and came together to form a profession-supported over-arching regulator. The GRCCT process is inexpensive, robust and simple whilst in contrast the CNHPC process has 99 positions in addition to the administrative staff. Each position holder is to be paid at the rate of £150 per day. It is complex, excludes the professional associations and looks to generate income by re-accrediting schools and licensing existing course providers. With the costs involved and the lack of support there seems to be little reason to believe it will function.

None of the eight therapy groups left in the CNHPC process has yet committed to the proposed model and the launch, originally scheduled for December 2007, has now been delayed until April 2008.

£900,000 GONE!

Leading figures in complementary medicine are said to be very concerned that the grant of £900,000 given to the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health by the Department of Health in August 2005 has now been spent. The twelve Complementary Therapy Lead Bodies invited to develop the process received less than £100,000 between them from the funding which was for a 3- year programme to support the regulation of complementary therapies.

The failing programme was enacted despite warnings from the main therapy sectors that the time allocated was far too short and a national consultation, funded by the foundation, had received less than 500 responses from an industry with in excess of 100,000 practitioners.

It is reported that representatives from the therapy groups were asked to travel to monthly meetings held in London and often lasting 4 to 5 hours. The therapists were given a sandwich lunch and offered travelling expenses, whilst up to six foundation staff, some of whom were being paid in excess of £50,000 pa, all attended the same meetings. Despite the use of a digital recorder and manual minute taking a member of the Foundation’s staff who is paid in excess of £24,000 pa, was instructed to sit separately and ‘observe’ the group during most of the meetings.

With questions being asked as to how the balance in excess of £¾m has been spent, three of the major therapy groups have been excluded from the process and three others are unwilling or unable to proceed with the Foundation’s model.

Chair of the Foundation’s Federal Working Group, Dame Professor Joan Higgins, offered no comment when asked why no risk assessments had been prepared for this project as would usually be the case for securing public funding.

Regulation…YES NHS…NO

Kim Lavely, CEO of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health shocked attendees at the Westminster Forum in July this year by announcing:

‘I think it would be helpful at the outset to dispel a common myth about The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health. We do not exist to promote the use of complementary therapies or to argue for their use on the NHS.’