The title of 'acupuncturist' is not controlled in the UK. Anyone can call themselves an acupuncturist, and so it is important to check on the qualifications and professional membership of your practitioner. Professional membership means the practitioner has met the training requirements of that Register, and that s/he is bound by their Code of Practice, which should be available on their website. This is your protection. The largest Register for acupuncturists in the UK is the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) (read more below), which registers fully trained Chinese Medicine (CM) practitioners. However, Western medical practitioners, so long as they have trained to use acupuncture as a technique , can use it through their statutory registration. .
The BAcC is itself regulated by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), and is the only CM Register to have gained this quality assurance. However, Western medical practitioners who have completed training in acupuncture are covered by their primary professional registration.
The British Acupuncture Council works to ensure that the standards of clinical and ethical practice of its members are comparable with those of other medical professions in the UK . It.acts for the profession and the public in relation to:
You can use their members database to find a CM acupuncturist in your area. .Although they only provide contact details, you can google the clinic name to find out more about a person - or phone them for an exploratory chat.
The BAAB, established by the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) in 1990, has two functions. It sets out the content, education and practice standards required of training courses in the UK if their graduates are to be admitted into the BAcC. It also supports colleges to develop their programmes to achieve accreditation, and monitors their continuing adherence to those standards through regular quality control procedures.
The standards for accreditation reflect the academic standard of a 3 yr undergraduate degree. BAAB Board members include representatives from Western medical professions, educationalists, and representatives of the public. As well as comprehensive Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory and clinical practice, accreditation requires a thorough understanding of health, disease, and pharmacology from a Western medical viewpoint, so that graduates of these courses should be able to understand Western medical drugs and test, and work collaboratively with your GP or other health provider, if that is what you wish.
Many Chinese Medicine (CM) acupuncturists have also trained in Chinese Herbal Medicine, in which case they may belong to the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) which has similar professional standards to the BAcC.
CM practitioners may also belong to Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture (ATCM). This Register was originally established by the Chinese TCM community. It has its own accreditation system aligned to China's State Administration for Traditional Chinese Medicine, and in recent years its membership has widened to include graduates from UK colleges that they accredit.
Some of the acupuncture offered in the UK is done as a technique by health practitioners who do not learn the full Chinese medical system and diagnostic methods, as you would through an accredited Chinese Medicine training. They use acupuncture for illnesses and conditions (especially pain relief) that they are qualified to treat in their primary modality. Much of the acupuncture available within the NHS will be this type. Whilst it can be very effective, it does not have the advantage of being tailored to your particular condition. Many patients have have overlapping symptoms and conditions, and Chinese Medicine uses some (such as emotions) which are not usually included in a biomedical diagnosis. If you want Chinese Medicine (CM) acupuncture many GPs will refer patients to CM practitioners outside the NHS. Some private health insurance policies include cover for acupuncture by BAcC members.
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