Complementary Medicine: Regulation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners in the United Kingdom, and we have no plans to make such assessments. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers.
The British Acupuncture Council holds a voluntary register of acupuncturists, which is accredited by the PSA. The organisations accredited by the PSA are independent, representative bodies and as such, they do not fall under Government oversight and therefore any decisions about the practice requirements for the professions they represent are a matter for those organisations and their members.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →