Proposal for complementary medicine on NHS in Wales

robindch

From:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3738612.stm

...it seems that our friends in Wales may soon be offered various forms of CAM on the NHS, at the behest of such medical experts as the Welsh secretary, Peter Hain, and the Prince of Wales.

One interesting thing about the article -- it claims that 'one in five adults in the UK are estimated to have used some form of complementary medicine.', while later on, it says that the 'private complementary health market is expected to be worth £200m a year by 2008'. These figures don't seem to add up to me -- if one in five have used CAM, then I'd expect the market to be worth far more than £200m.

Has anybody done any firm research in the area of the economics of CAM? My own (fairly limited) experience of CAM financial practice indicates that, in general, fees are paid in cash and pocketed immediately by the practicioner, so I'd imagine that hard data is difficult to come by.

- robin.

davros

Under Mr Hain's proposals, Welsh GPs may be able to refer their NHS patients to dieticians and reflexologists.

If I was a dietician, I'd complain about the slur on my profession.

OfflerCrocGod

Placebos can work if the person believes in them. The mind is a funny thing

robindch

> Placebos can work if the person believes in them. The mind is a funny thing

Placebos work even if you don't believe in them -- that's the whole point