Primary Care Trusts across the nation are cutting back funding for treatment with homeopathic medicines, under growing pressure to cut costs in the National Health Service.
Just 37% of PCTs still have contracts for homeopathic services, and more than a quarter have either stopped or slashed funding in the last two years, an investigation by Pulse Magazine has revealed.
The decline can be traced back to letters written to PCT commissioning heads in 2006 by a group of ‘experts’ claiming that, whilst a highly popular alternative therapy, funding should be withdrawn because there is no hard evidence to support homeopathy’s effectiveness.
According to Michael Dixon, chair of the NHS Alliance, complementary therapies have been the casualties of budget cuts ever since, particularly as pressure to reduce the NHS’ deficit intensified, reports Pulse.
Former homeopath Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, told the magazine that he is in favour of removing funds for homeopathy as it is “nothing more than a placebo”, but GP Dr Tim Robinson warned that if the service is taken away patients might be driven to seek treatment from non-medical practitioners.
