Chinese herbal medicine
There have been calls for the Department of Health to implement statutory regulation of the sale of Chinese herbal medicine after a Chinese herbalist admitted selling pills to a woman who went on to develop cancer while taking pills that contained banned substances. The Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM), which is an association for practitioners, said that the case highlights the "urgent need" for statutory regulation of the supply of Chinese herbal medicine.
For more on this story go to: http://www.onmedica.com/news/59e73105-555d-4066-94e5-a4e10b0bf6ea/ pressure-mounts-for-herbal-medicines-regulation
FIH Awards 2010
Volunteers Required
Each year the FHT receives requests from Charities for support at major national events. Last year FHT members volunteered for events at the London Marathon, Great North Run, Great Charity Bike Ride and the Great South Run. As usual we will be looking for volunteers to link to charities to perform massage on charity runners. This year, the FHT has already been approached by the Stoke Association and Breakthrough Breast Cancer for volunteers. For further information on the charities, please visit: http://breakthrough.org.uk/ http://www.stroke.org.uk/ If you would like to be involved in any volunteer teams at any sporting events in 2010. Please register your interest by emailing events@fht.org.uk and you can join our mailing list about volunteering at sporting events.
FHT Response to Libellous Email
The FHT is an independent, not for profit professional association that exists to represent the interests of professional therapists. It does not have any links to the new voluntary regulator for complementary and natural healthcare (CNHC) however it recognises the existence of the CNHC as the only government backed regulator with a remit to protect the public from unqualified and incompetent practitioners. The good working relationship with the regulator has been developed to ensure that your interests are paramount and not compromised.
As your professional association the FHT has a responsibility to lobby the regulator on your behalf to ensure that its structure, fees and processes reflect the best interests of practising professional therapists. Since the CNHC's inception the FHT has been successful in lobbying the regulator to reduce its intended registration fee and to simplify its registration process.
Part of this success involved the regulator agreeing to let all professional associations verify a members qualification, insurance and good standing and therefore remove the need for a registration fee to be paid to the CNHC. This service is now carried out at no cost to FHT members who choose to be regulated. The £15 referred to in the email relates only to non-members of professional associations who wish to become regulated and is a fee charged by all participating professional associations to cover the administration of this non-member service.
A condition of being able to provide this free verification service to members is that the professional association must be a member of the professional forum (lead body) for that therapy. To comply with this requirement the FHT is obliged to pay a membership fee to the Reflexology Forum. The FHT, as a not for profit organisation, now feels that the cost of joining the Reflexology Forum is not a good use of its members funds because it has not experienced any member benefit over the past 12 months.
The meeting with the regulator alluded to in the email was to seek the advice regarding the implications of this action in relation to the verification of qualified reflexologists to the CNHC register. The CNHC Registrar advised me that the conduct of the professional forum was to be determined by the profession and was not the responsibility of the regulator.
The FHT continues to inform its members that registration with the regulator is voluntary and it does not affect your right to practise.
Following this advice I drafted a motion to amend the constitution of the Reflexology Forum in an attempt to remove the high costs of its existence and subsequently reduce or remove the need for a joining fee. This motion is in the public domain and has been acknowledged by the chair of the Reflexology Forum. In the event that the Reflexology Forum chooses to ignore the motion the FHT will withdraw from this body in the interests of its members.
The reference to a multi-disciplined professional forum relates to the consideration being given by the profession, and not the regulator, to the creation of a new collective body concerned with the interests of multi-disciplined educational standards. This will not be a replacement for the single modality professional fora.
I sincerely hope that this places in context the email you may have received, attempting to discredit your professional association and the CNHC, and provides some additional information to help you understand the potential damage these detractors may cause.
Kind regards
John French Chief Executive
Please log In to view this article
Good News for 2010
Good News for 2010 for membership fees and insurance prices The FHT is pleased to announce the new membership fees for 2010. Members in the UK will note that the standard fees remain the same as 2009. Members paying by Direct Debit will receive a 5% discount on the standard fees.
The FHT is also pleased to announce that FHT Ireland Members fees will be brought into line with EU Members This will mean a £12 reduction on last year's fees.
New for 2010 is the facility for FHT Ireland membership and Overseas membership to pay by Direct Debit and receive 5% discount*.
UK
Standard Fee
By Direct Debit
FHT Member
£57
£54.15
FHT Associate
£62
£58.90
FHT Non- Practitioner
£33
£31.35
FHT Student
£19.99
Not applicable
Ireland
*By Direct Debit
£68
£64.60
£28
Overseas
FHT Member ( EU)
FHT Member (non EU)
£73
£69.35
FHT Associate (EU)
FHT Associate(non EU)
£79
£75.05
*only applicable if you have a current United Kingdom Bank account
Great news for the FHT membership with UK or Ireland insurance
View the Insurance improvements page to see the great range of improvements to both the insurance policies and the reduction in fees. Click Here >>> For FHT Ireland members all treatments approved in the UK are now approved in Ireland (at renewal and with correct qualifications)
Calling all FHT therapists
Are you a qualified cranial therapist, nutritional therapist or shiatsu therapist who has been practicing for least 2 years? If the answer is yes then the FHT would like to hear from you.
The FHT is looking for members who would like to attend the meetings of the Cranial Forum, Nutritional Therapy Council, Shiatsu Forum and the British Council for Yoga on behalf of the FHT. These professional bodies are the lead bodies for the therapies and are responsible for the standards and education of the therapy they represent.
Practitioners from stakeholder professional associations and educational establishments attend these meeting 2 or 3 times a year representing the interests of professional therapists qualified in these modalities.
Travel expenses and a daily rate will be available. If you would like to represent the FHT on these bodies, please contact us at governingbodies@fht.org.uk
NHS Personal Budgets
The Department of Health has launched a consultation on allowing patients to spend their personal health budgets on a range of non-traditional treatments such as homeopathy and acupuncture. The document explains that people will be able to choose from a range of services as part of the budget system, which will be run as pilot schemes in 20 Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas. Other potential services include personal healthcare assistants, equipment and transport to attend treatments, as well as complementary therapies. The consultation closes on 8 January 2010 and the FHT will be responding on behalf of its members.
To read the full DH document on personal health budgets go to the www.fht.org.uk/personal_health_budgets
Update: FHT Medical Persons Special Interest Group (MPSIG) Margaret Hensman of the MPSIG will be writing a series of blogs for The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) over the next six months. "The wellness programme - Margaret Hensman's blog First Margaret Hensman was a nurse, then she was a reflexologist. In recent months she's brought her experience of NHS and complementary experience together in the creation of the Wellness Programme - a pilot programme offering care, support, education and therapy. Margaret will be blogging about the results of the pilot for FIH over the next six months. She begins though, by telling us what has driven her career choices and why the NHS is less good at supporting the chronically ill." The FIH was founded in 1993 by HRH The Prince of Wales to promote integrated healthcare for all. Integrated health brings together medicine with prevention, mind with body, complementary with mainstream, to reach the roots of illness.
To view Margaret's first blog, simply follow this link
Members of the public who use complementary healthcare will for the first time be able to verify that their reflexologist is registered with the first UK wide regulator. The voluntary register will open over the course of this year to a wide range of complementary and natural healthcare practitioners. Reflexology is the fourth discipline for which the register has opened this year, joining massage therapy, nutritional therapy and aromatherapy. By registering with the CNHC, reflexology practitioners will be seen as meeting the ‘gold standard’ within their field and will be entitled to display the quality mark which is given to practitioners upon registration.
Maggie Dunn, CEO of the CNHC explained: “We are delighted that CNHC is today opening its register to reflexology practitioners. Members of the public who use or are interested in using reflexology will be able to check whether the practitioner they’re seeing is registered with the CNHC.” Continues Maggie, “Public safety is paramount and it is vital that practitioners meet the CNHC minimum standards of qualification and/or experience and in addition, they are signed up to a rigorous code of conduct. Not only will people looking for a reflexologist have peace of mind but practitioners too will benefit through increased public confidence”
Reflexology is the physical act of applying pressure to the feet and hands using a variety of hand techniques. It is based on a system of zones and reflex areas that reflect an image of the body on the feet and hands. Reflexology practitioners believe that such work may bring about a physical change to the body, or improve general health. Throughout the rest of 2009, the Register will be opened to further disciplines, as they become ready and wish to register, and include: Yoga therapy, Shiatsu, Alexander technique, Bowen technique, Cranial therapy, Naturopathy and Reiki.
The FHT is regularly receiving job opportunities from employers in the healthcare, spa, beauty and sports environments, so we have now created a section in the Members Area entitled Job opportunities.
Bowen Therapists targeted with SCAM emails
Some members have brought to our attention scam emails designed to defraud therapists. Unfortunately this type of crime is on the increase, so if you are targeted please let the FHT know so that we can highlight this to our other members.
If you receive an email that contains: Hello, How are you today? My name is Mrs Caroline Graham.....
I have a client Miss Lucila Miramontes....She s having neck and back pain and She will be needing 1 hour bowen technique session.... - please ignore it.
The new regulator, the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) opens it registers today to nutrition therapists and massage therapists. The Aromatherapists register is expected to be open in the next few months. Nine other therapy registers remain in development.
The FHT has negotiated a discount in fees and will facilitate members applications as described on the Request to Register form
Chief Superintendent Chris Ambler, Sussex Police Communications Department, has responded to reports in the media regarding an Indian head massage service available to staff working at contact centres. Mr Ambler said:
An Indian head and shoulder massage service has been available to staff who work in our public contact centre at HQ and at our resourcing centres in Brighton and Haywards Heath since November 2005. Prior to the previous contract for this service expiring on December 31st 2008, it was reviewed in October. One of the considerations was the current economic climate and the Communications Department command team did consider not renewing the service.Ultimately, however, it was decided that the undoubted positive benefits it provides directly to our staff (and, through them, the service we provide each year to the 1.5 million callers) far outweighs its relatively modest cost.The contract is currently out to tender so that we can secure a competitive price for the service (our maximum budget is confidential due to the procurement process). However, it would be safe to say that the cost of renewing the service will be substantially less than the £10,000 per year reported in the media.The service is an important part of our comprehensive well-being and retention programme and is regularly oversubscribed by staff. Our resourcing centres continue to deliver excellent emergency call-answering performance, with very high levels of customer service consistently reported.This consistent level of service would not be possible without the hard work of our team of call takers, who are required to deal with (often distressed) callers whilst maintaining a calm and professional air throughout.Musculoskeletal injuries are a major cause of contact centre absence and discomfort because of the nature of the job. This includes long periods of time sitting plugged into the desk, the use of keyboards and having to take stressful calls.Indian head and shoulder massage, which also includes arms and fingers, has been shown to be extremely beneficial to those who receive it. The service is widely used in other organisations which use call centres and is certainly not unique to Sussex Police.The service is provided once a fortnight at each of our three main contact centre sites - Brighton, Haywards Heath and Lewes HQ. A one hour slot at each site is provided by two qualified staff, the hour being broken down into fifteen minute massage slots. Therefore, a maximum of 24 staff receive this service every fortnight.Staff feedback for the service, both directly and via focus groups, has been hugely positive. The general feedback is that they find the service beneficial and there is also a clear recognition that this is an investment in them by the force.It s not possible to state whether providing the massage service reduces staff sickness. However, as an important part of our overall investment in well-being activities, we are confident it plays an effective preventative role.We are similarly confident that it contributes to our retention of qualified staff, thereby helping to reduce recruitment and retraining costs. Police staff retention rates have been very high for some period now. Picture Credit: Folia, Marin Conic