Whatever the causes or wherever each of us feels that the finger of blame should be pointed, there is no denying the very real effects that the global economic crisis of recent years is now having on numerous areas of expenditure.
Here in the UK, one of the most hotly debated and contentious issues is linked to plans which can affect the funding of the health service and the provisions which it makes available.
In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition for various alternative therapies and the relief that these kinds of treatments can bring to various ailments.
When it comes to non-mainstream topics there will always be different opinions, although some disciplines such as acupuncture are increasingly accepted as bringing real and verifiable benefits for many sufferers.
One more contentious treatment is homeopathy, although it too has been the recipient of NHS funding. It is probably fair to say that many people still see this form of treatment as somewhat u unorthodox and subsequently find it difficult to trust it as a legitimate form of treatment. Medical care in the UK comes under great scrutiny from bodies such as the CQC (care quality commission) and this is one of the reasons that our whole system is held up as an example around the world of the way that theory can be successfully put into practice. In light of this, any form of treatment that is funded by the NHS has an associated value of validity attributed to it.
One in seven PCTs in England paid for homeopathy services in the period 2011/12, but this represents a significant fall from 2010/11 when one in five trusts provided funding for it. In fact, the figures show that overall funding has fallen by half since 2008/9, when a third of trusts were making homeopathic treatments available to NHS patients.
This shows that homeopathy has essentially been re-classified as a low priority treatment and many feel that this is due to poor evidence of its clinical effectiveness. Indeed, in 2010 the House of Commons science committee said that the NHS should not fund it, which led to an immediate impact on the number of PCTs which were doing so.
Another factor that is impacting the availability of funding for homeopathy services is that the BMA has a stated policy that the treatment should not be funded by the NHS, believing that people can still access the services privately if they wish to do so.
The future for NHS funding for this and other ‘fringe’ treatments depends on where you stand on the debate regarding whether they can be cost effective by helping to reduce the burden on an already over stretched service. The recent Cabinet re-shuffle seeing Jeremy Hunt move from the post as health secretary could also have implications, as he had told a constituent that he believed homeopathy had benefits and had also signed a parliamentary motion on the positive contribution of NHS homeopathic hospitals.
