Alternative therapy 'crackdown'

Alternative therapy 'crackdown'

news.bbc.co.uk

The head of the UK's first regulator for complementary medicine has promised to get tough with the industry and drive out cowboy therapists.

Maggie Dunn, co-chairman of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), said it was time customers were given proper assurances.

She said the regulator, which is being launched on Monday, would clean up the industry used by one in five people.

And she estimated thousands of clinics may go out of business in the process.

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This could be a great move in removing some of the "stigma" attached to complimentary therapies.

The scheme is voluntary and costs £45 pa, with clinics which pass the criteria recieving the CNHC certification and the right to use the logo.

With all the skepticism about complimentary therapies, this will hopefully remove some of the "cowboys" and bring a measure of mainstream interest.

I see this as a good thing - at the moment, pretty much anyone can set themselves up as an alternative therapist, with little in the way of training or qualifications.

There is little doubt in my mind that some of these therpies are effective, but until the chancers are removed, the true pracitioners will always be viewed with a certain level of suspicion (by mainstream)

Hopefully, this a step on the road to acceptance.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)