The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council: how it works

woman receiving massage A new regulatory body called The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council has launched. The new organisation will protect the public by vetting complementary health practitioners, and only giving their seal of approval to well-qualified, responsible professionals.

Practitioners from many complementary healthcare professions can sign up after proving that they have met the necessary high standards of the Council. They will also need to pay a small fee. Once registered, their names will be added to a database on the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council's website.

Once the register is well established, members of the public will be able to check to see if their complementary practitioner is registered. If someone visits a complementary practitioner and is unhappy with their treatment, they will be able to go through a complaints procedure organised by the CNHC .

CNHC is run by lay people, although complementary practitioners will act as advisors to the Council. This arrangement means that the Council's decisions will be impartial, independent and fair.

Some frequently asked questions:

Who set up the CNHC ?

Complementary healthcare professions themselves have developed this regulatory model, with support and facilitation from The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health. FIH has been working for several years with a range of complementary healthcare professions. For the past year they have been helping professions to organise an ‘umbrella’ regulator.

How can I stay in touch with news about the CNHC?

On the website www.cnhc.org.uk. For more general news on regulation, sign up to our own newsletter (just enter your email address at the bottom of any page on this website).

I am a complementary healthcare practitioner - how do I sign up with the CNHC ?

To sign up to CNHC, your profession has to be a member. As therapy bodies join, they will publish the standards expected of a CNHC practitioner, and all those meeting the standards will be eligible to join the CNHC's register for that profession.

Practitioners who have participated in developing the regulator are Alexander Technique teachers, aromatherapy, Bowen technique, cranial therapy, homeopathy, massage therapy, naturopathy, nutritional therapy, reflexology, reiki, shiatsu and yoga therapy. Many, but not all, are likely to join the CNHC.

I'd like more details about the history of the Council's creation.

This powerpoint presentation on the CNHC (1087 kb) gives a description of the background to the creation of a Federal Regulator, and describes the advisory bodies that will suport the council.