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An overview of NHS homeopathy
NHS homeopathic hospitals
As well as around 400 GPs who integrate homeopathy into their practice in the UK, there are four NHS homeopathic hospitals – Bristol, Liverpool, London and Glasgow. All have been part of the NHS since it was founded in 1948, though many of them have existed for over a hundred years. These are consultant-led services staffed by fully qualified doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who have additional training in homeopathy and other complementary therapies such as acupuncture. Patients are referred, as is usual in the NHS, by their GP or specialist.
The homeopathic hospitals are a unique asset to the NHS, for several reasons:
- They offer patients genuine choice of treatment by providing evidence-based, highly professional complementary medicine. Most patients are unable to afford private treatment.
- Although small they are highly innovative: for instance acupuncture for pain and complementary cancer care, both now widely available in the NHS, were pioneered by the homeopathic hospitals.
- They have made important research contributions, for instance researching ‘effectiveness gaps’ – conditions for which GPs lack effective treatments, and the outcome and cost-effectiveness of complementary medicine.
The hospitals help many patients who have been failed by other parts of the NHS – including those with complex chronic problems and for whom conventional medicine has proved ineffective or associated with serious side effects. The treatments offered by the homeopathic hospitals are complementary to, and integrated with, conventional treatment. Treatment is provided by qualified healthcare professionals working within the NHS.
Hospitals at risk
In the past the government has re-affirmed its commitment to homeopathy in the NHS – a commitment originally made by Aneurin Bevan, the architect of the health service. Speaking on 7 April 1977, Eric Deakins (Under Secretary of State for Health) said: “homeopathic treatment should be available under the NHS as long as there are practitioners who are willing to provide it and patients wishing to receive it." (Hansard 1977)
However, local NHS commissioning and the financial crisis currently affecting the NHS have placed these unique national assets at risk. Decisions that affect patients’ ability to choose their treatment are being made to satisfy short term financial needs by NHS commissioners who have little understanding of the value the homeopathic hospitals provide.
Negative media coverage
There is concern that NHS commissioners have been encouraged to make cuts by a series of high-profile hostile leaks to the media. These include a leak of a draft of the Smallwood Report, by the economist Christopher Smallwood, highlighting the potential of complementary therapies to provide cost-effective NHS treatment options, which was commissioned by the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health (front page of The Times 25 August 2005).
There was also a letter attacking complementary medicine, sent to Chief Executives of all Primary Care Trusts and leaked, again on the front page of The Times, on 23 May 2006, which used the NHS logo without permission from the Department of Health (DH). DH later called the use of the logo 'inappropriate'. This was followed by an “anniversary” letter on 23 May 2007 to the same PCTs which was also widely reported.
The long-term impact could be an irreversible loss of patient choice which will leave many patients stranded – particularly those for whom conventional medicine has failed.
Fragmented policy
The amounts of money involved are tiny. In Tunbridge Wells, West Kent Primary Care Trust cancelled its £196,000 a year contract with the homeopathic hospital there, despite a vigorous local campaign and public consultation results which favoured keeping homeopathy funding. This contract accounted for 50% of the patients seen at Tunbridge Wells and its loss meant that the service was no longer viable - the hospital closed in March 2009.
Other homeopathic hospitals are facing similar decisions by PCTs seeking to reduce costs. This is being done without considering the additional resources that will be consumed elsewhere in the NHS as a consequence of patients being refused treatment at the homeopathic hospitals. Because of the fragmented nature of NHS commissioning arrangements, no one body has oversight of this, or of the potential consequence of the irreversible loss of these small, unique units which punch far above their weight in terms of patient care, innovation and research.
Comparing numbers
NHS spending on homeopathy is very small. The service lost at Tunbridge Wells equates to around 0.0002% of the NHS's total budget.
- Total NHS budget: £100 billion
- Annual spend on inpatients with adverse reactions to drugs: £466 million
- Annual spend on management consultants: £300 million
- Annual spend on homeopathy: £4 million
- Cost of Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital contract with PCT: £196,000
The contracts the homeopathic hospitals have with Primary Care Trusts are a minuscule proportion of the NHS budget - and yet make such a big difference to patients. Outcome studies from the hospitals consistently show that well over two thirds of patients feel better after treatment.