Surveys over the past decade have reflected a growing demand by the public and interest by health practitioners (doctors and nurses) in reliable, practical and safe natural medicines, especially where conventional treatments are ineffective. Alternative and complementary medicines and therapies are rapidly becoming integrated within GP practices, health centres and hospitals.

In 1993 a survey conducted by the British Market Research Bureau found that 89 per cent of the population would use complementary medicine. GP’s have also become more inclined to recommend non-conventional treatments. Last year, Baroness Cumberledge, the Minister in the Department of Health responsible for Complementary Medicine, reported that 40 per cent of registered medical practitioners delegate patients to complementary medical treatments. Other surveys have shown that medical students, doctors and nurses are now actively studying and using alternative and complementary medicines. Studies have indicated that as many as 70 per cent of hospital doctors and 93 per cent of GPs have referred patients to non-conventional health practitioners. Twenty per cent of GP’s and 12 per cent of hospital doctors actually practise some form of complementary medicine, and 85 per cent of medical students, 76 per cent of GPs and 69 per cent of hospital doctors now feel that complementary therapies should be made available on the NHS.

Homoeopathy is unique among all of the alternative and complementary therapies as it has been part of Britain's National Health Service since 1948 and is available at five NHS Homoeopathic Hospitals: The Royal London, Glasgow, Liverpool (Mossley Hill), Bristol and Tunbridge Wells. HM the Queen is Patron of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital NHS Trust and the Royal Family have employed homoeopathic physicians for generations. However, other therapies can also be made available but largely at the discretion of GP’s fundholding practices, District Health Authorities (DHAs) or Family Health Service Authorities (FSHAs). In 1992, a national survey carried out among DHAs, FHSAs and GP fundholding practices found that 70 per cent wanted complementary therapies (mostly homoeopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy, and chiropractic) to be available on the NHS, and 83 per cent of DHAs, although most have incorporated them on an experimental basis. Many FHSAs have regarded health promotion clinics as opportunities to employ complementary therapies for smoking cessation, stress management, and pain. However, the main barriers restricting the more widespread application of complementary therapies are simply lack of information about the therapies, lack of available evidence relating to their effectiveness, and lack of resources.

According to the national survey report, the single most important factor preventing greater use of complementary therapies into the NHS was the lack of good quality information on effectiveness and training. However, what is clear is that the process of getting this information to the requisite authorities is slow. What is needed is for the relevant associations and training organisations to become more proactive by marketing their therapies and approaching health authorities and GP fundholdings. The organisations need to become more involved in research projects, anticipating therapeutic applications that can be evaluated and tested. And, most of all, the relevant organisations need to reverse the trend of fragmented disunity and build national professional bodies working to a common end.