Can Complementary Therapies Improve NHS Care?

James Richardson November 24, 2012

What can be done to improve health care for all patients?

We think that the introduction of Complementary Therapies into the NHS as a service for patients could improve the level of care, offering everything from professional counselling, reflexology, acupuncture and even hypnotherapy. It would increase the available work force of practitioners, nurses and doctors that are able to treat patients as well as contributing to the level of services and therapies that can aim to treat people better and more efficiently.

The Statistics

According to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, proving the NHS’s failing in standards, it shows that a shocking 1 in 6 hospitals do not meet standards. 1 in 10 patients are denied dignity during treatment and care, 15% aren’t fed properly and a further 20% even have their welfare neglected.

It gets worse. Earlier this year, research published in the British Medical Journal reveals that almost 1,000 patients die every month due to poor hospital care.

This is just proof that a lack of staff and training has lead to improper care and treatment of patients in the NHS. With duties stretched thin over a small work-force and with inadequate services to provide help to these patients it’s no wonder these cases are appearing.

Statistics found in the ’Data on Written Complaints in the NHS 2011-12’ mentioned that general complaints with services have gone up by over 12,000 since last year. With over 8% of complaints concerning delays, at NaturalTherapyForAll we receive frequent client enquiries seeking private health care alternatives to NHS care due to the unacceptably long waiting lists.

Findings that show Complementary Therapy works

The interesting finding from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination article published ’Complementary and alternative therapies for pain management in labour’ concludes the main results that Acupuncture showed a decrease need for pain relief for women in labour. It also mentions that hypno-birthing also decreased the requirements for ’pharmacological analgesia’. This finding is especially poignant considering there have been well over 3000 maternity service complaints this year alone, up from 2011 and 2010.

Also among the statistics in the data of complaints, shows a 42% rise in the amount of people claiming there are ’inadequate remedies’ given which is an alarmingly high figure. The cost of medication supply is high for the NHS so the fact that there is an alternative seems highly favourable.

The main findings from the article titled ’Systematic review of randomized clinical trials of complementary/alternative therapies in the treatment of tension-type and cervicogenic headache’ described how CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) Therapies are very useful in the treatment of these common forms of headaches. So why aren’t such effective and cheaper forms of care available? Well we think they should be.

Dear Readers,

As a therapist do you think your service could benefit the NHS?

Share your comments below!

Sources:

http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/crdweb/ShowRecord.asp?LinkFrom=OAI&ID=12009104781

http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/search?q=Complementary%20Therapies

Action urged over ’appalling’ NHS care