ABC of complementary medicine: Complementary medicine in conventional practice

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Abstract
The past 10 years has seen a significant increase in the amount of complementary medicine being accessed through the NHS. These services are not evenly distributed, and many different delivery mechanisms are used, some of which (such as homoeopathic hospitals) predate the inception of the NHS. Others depend on more recent NHS reorganisations, like general practice fundholding and health commission contracting, or have been set up as evaluated pilot projects. Complementary therapies have been available in the NHS since its inception #### Integrating complementary medicine into conventional settings ##### Successful integration is more likely with ##### Problems are likely with List adapted from the report of the Delivery Mechanisms Working Party of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine In general, development of these services has been demand led rather than evidence led. A few have published formal evaluations or audit reports. Some of these show benefits associated with complementary therapy—high patient satisfaction, significant improvements on validated health questionnaires compared with waiting list controls, and suggestions of reduced prescribing and referrals. However, data from other services are less clear, and many have not been formally evaluated These pilot projects have also identified various factors that influence the integration of complementary medicine practitioners within …

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