LAUNCH OF COMPLEMENTARY HEALTHCARE INFORMATION PACK

Early day motion 875, tabled 20 June 2000 by David Tredinnick (Conservative). Signed by 61 members.

That this House notes that public demand for complementary and alternative medicine is increasing rapidly, that 75 per cent. of the public support access to complementary medicine through the NHS, that currently 20 per cent. of the UK population use complementary medicines, that there are now around 49,000 complementary medicine practitioners in the UK and that an estimated ú1.6 billion is spent annually on complementary medicine in the UK; welcomes the initiative of the Department of Health, the NHS Alliance, the National Association of Primary Care and the Foundation for Integrated Medicine to produce a new information pack on complementary and alternative medicine for general practitioners, primary care groups and primary care trusts; observes that this pack is designed to inform clinicians and managers, and act as a resource for making sensible and locally sensitive decisions about commissioning the six complementary therapies which are most often provided acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine, hypnotherapy and homoeopathy; and welcomes that exhibition in the Upper Waiting Hall mounted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Alternative and Complementary Medicine in the week commencing 19th June providing information on all aspects of complementary medicine and its role in an integrated system of healthcare in the UK.

Signatures by party: Labour 30, Liberal Democrat 13, Conservative 11, Labour/Co-operative 3, UUP 2, Plaid Cymru 1, Scottish National Party 1.