Should CAM be funded by the NHS? or Do you really want your tax money to be used for fashionable quackery? SIM SALA......Yin Yang Abracadabra.....

Reasons for using CAM Moreover: Mostly rich people use CAM.

Fashion or real medical relief? Only 25% experienced real relief of injury or condition. Only 18% of the replies were related to NHS (not accessible) or GPs (referral) Most (96%) answers related to unscientific believes and general fashion trends. The NHS cannot fund fashion in public health care!

Problems of funding CAM builds dependencies, psychological addictions Expensive: £2,700,000,000 per year not well-researched time consuming 1:6 Lack of training Lack of standardisation - quacks Lack of rational data for public Lack of safety standards no single definition of CAM Alan Milburn, Health Secretary

NHS Priorities in the 2000 Reform Plan NHS is a 1940s system operating in the 21st century and needs to be reformed in terms of –standard, de-centralisation and autonomy of local health services, empowering patients, reducing waiting periods in emergency departments –The current budget will achieve by 2005: GP appointment in 48 hours, cancer screening programmes and available cancer drugs, free nursing care in nursing homes, diet improvement for children in schools (1 fruit a day), mental health teams, ONLY 3 months waiting periods for outpatients and 6 months for inpatients. (Currently 172 days for open heart surgery!!)

How would NHS services look like if 50,000 CAM practitioners, 5 million CAM patients, and 10,000 statutory registered health professionals who practise some form of CAM would be covered by the NHS??? £2,700,000,000 per year for CAM