Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a popular choice for many people seeking a solution to health and life style issues. 20% of the UK population try it each year, often paying for treatment privately and spending up to £200 million per year.

CAM can be loosely described as a diagnostic, treatment or health promotion activity that complements, or is an alternative to ‘mainstream medicine’. Mainstream medicine varies in different countries and culture and therapies which are regarded as being CAM in the UK are mainstream elsewhere- eg Osteopathy in USA, Ayurvedic Medicine in Sri Lanka, Traditional Chinese medicine including herbal and acupuncture in the Far East and Shiatsu in Japan.

There is a huge variety of types and treatments and some of these are used officially or unofficially within the NHS. There are, for example, 5 NHS Homeopathic Hospitals. Acupuncture and manipulation are widely practiced physical treatments which by common usage have almost ceased to be ‘alternative’. However access to and information about these treatments is patchy and whilst a number of official bodies such as The Patients Association and The Prince Charles Foundation have argued for further integration and mainstream provision of these treatments, very few Primary Care Trusts make specific provision for this type of treatment. The Government tends to be positive but vague in its recommendations and leave it down to local trusts, which in turn seem to struggle to commission an adequate mainstream service within available funds, let alone increasing the choice of treatments.

Meanwhile private therapists locally seem to flourish with an ever increasing range of treatments and disciplines.

So why is there this dichotomy? The availability of funding is clearly one factor. Traditional bias and dogma, both in mainstream services and medical schools resists change. The variety of therapies and the variation of qualifications is confusing, sometimes misleading and many of these therapies remain unregulated. Some critics point to the paucity of hard scientific data for many CAM therapies but the same can be said of many mainstream treatments, particularly those used to help problems with a significant psychological or social component. Many of you will have taken ‘effective’ prescribed drugs which have later been withdrawn due to adverse risk.

Perhaps the biggest recommendation for CAM is its increasing popularity. But how do you find the right therapist for your problem? A recent survey suggested that 85% of GPs do not feel that they have adequate information to make recommendations. Personal recommendation is highly influential but patients should still ensure that the therapist has appropriate experience and qualification- something that is often taken for granted in both Mainstream and CAM care.

www.primetreatment.co.uk is a new website is being developed in Wiltshire to help patients find this sort of information about local private therapists and the treatments that they offer. It might be worth a look!