Herbal medicine and acupuncture have reached a turning point: will the government support statutory regulation, meaning that only well-trained, safe practitioners can practise?  Or will they aim for a fudge, leaving patients exposed an inadvertently making it impossible for the public to access some safe herbal preparations?

We urge you to write to your MP to let them know that this is an issue you care about ahead of the next General Election. 

Read our press release and and coverage from the Evening Standard..

 

 Until recently Western thinking about health was dominated by the idea of 'mind' and 'body' as separate entities.  We now realise they are inextricably linked and that our thoughts and feelings can affect our immune status.

This publication by Foundation Fellows Professor Stephen Holgate and Professor Jane Plant with contributions by Michael McIntyre looks at  the studies that explain why complementary therapies have an impact on health.  It argues that doctors should lay aside the polarisation that has existed between orthodox and complementary models, and instead choose pragmatically from the best of both.

In 1999, Angie Buxton-King approached University College Hospital, asking if she could provide a free reiki service on one of their cancer wards.  Three months later, ward staff were so impressed with the steadying effect on patients that she was invited to became a paid member of staff - and the NHS's first 'healer'.

Here she tells us about how a complementary therapy service for the very ill works and how her team has grown over the past decade.

Follow the blog as our Foundation Fellow Mr Michael Dooley leads a group of 12 UK doctors to see the best of integrated health in China. Travelling from major cities and big hospitals to rural areas, he is reporting what he sees and hears.

Discover more about a country where people of all ages casually practice Tai Chi in public parks each morning, where the system does not involve primary care and where drugs, herbs and massage are often delivered side by side.

What can we learn? Follow the story and ask Michael your own questions daily. 

 

 

The Forestry Commission and the National Osteoporosis Society were some of those around the table with Welsh Assembly members planning healthier lives for people in rural Wales.  The event was convened as part of a sustainability week at HRH The Prince of Wales' farmhouse.

Homeopathy has been in the news this week, much of it focused on comments made by the professional standards Director of Boots.  Watch the oral evidence session to the House of Commons from a variety of people here from sceptics to supporters.

Read FIH's and others' submissions here.

 From 17 November, practitioners of Shiatsu can now register with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.  Visit www.cnhc.org.uk for full details of how to sign up.

This month we say goodbye to Ian Cambray-Smith who steered many complementary therapy groups through the complex business of voluntary self-regulation and laid the ground for the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.  The CNHC is now opening its register to an increasing number of therapies and should be your first port of call when looking for practitioners and for voluntary self-regulation queries - www.cnhc.org.uk.

We  wish Ian all the best in his future work.