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23/05/2006
Doctors urge NHS Trusts not to use complementary medicine
A group of leading British doctors has called on NHS Trusts to stop paying for complementary therapies.
The letter, which was reproduced in 'The Times', called for the money to be used for conventional treatments.
It said that the funding of "unproven or disproved treatments" such as homeopathy and reflexology was unacceptable, while access to other life-saving drugs, such as breast cancer drug Herceptin, were limited.
Thirteen scientists, including some prominent names in British medicine, such as Nobel Prize-winner Sir James Black and the President of the Academy of Medical Science, Sir Keith Peters, have signed the letter which was sent to 476 acute and primary care trusts.
The letter was organised by Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London and came ahead of a speech by the Prince of Wales - a long-time advocate of complementary medicine - to the World Health Organisation assembly in Geneva on the subject.
The letter criticises two initiatives on complementary medicine: one which is a government-funded complementary medicine guide for patients, prepared by the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Medicine; and the other, the Smallwood Report, commissioned by the Prince, which makes the case for increasing the availability of complementary therapies on the NHS.
The letter concludes: "At a time when the NHS is under intense pressure, patients, the public and the NHS are best served by using the available funds for treatments that are based on solid evidence."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that it was up to clinicians and trusts to decide on the best treatment for a patient.
(KMcA)
The letter, which was reproduced in 'The Times', called for the money to be used for conventional treatments.
It said that the funding of "unproven or disproved treatments" such as homeopathy and reflexology was unacceptable, while access to other life-saving drugs, such as breast cancer drug Herceptin, were limited.
Thirteen scientists, including some prominent names in British medicine, such as Nobel Prize-winner Sir James Black and the President of the Academy of Medical Science, Sir Keith Peters, have signed the letter which was sent to 476 acute and primary care trusts.
The letter was organised by Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London and came ahead of a speech by the Prince of Wales - a long-time advocate of complementary medicine - to the World Health Organisation assembly in Geneva on the subject.
The letter criticises two initiatives on complementary medicine: one which is a government-funded complementary medicine guide for patients, prepared by the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Medicine; and the other, the Smallwood Report, commissioned by the Prince, which makes the case for increasing the availability of complementary therapies on the NHS.
The letter concludes: "At a time when the NHS is under intense pressure, patients, the public and the NHS are best served by using the available funds for treatments that are based on solid evidence."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that it was up to clinicians and trusts to decide on the best treatment for a patient.
(KMcA)
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