Dear Tom,

Many thanks for your email to Mr Lansley. It is estimated that about half of GPs refer some patients to alternative therapists. There are currently five NHS homeopathic hospitals in the UK and you must be referred to these by your doctor. We are aware that there are differing views on the provision of homeopathic remedies, with some arguing that there is not enough evidence to support their availability via the NHS, while others argue that greater access to complementary therapies in the NHS might lead to widespread benefits.

Conservatives see the most effective method of making decisions about what the NHS provides as the cost-clinical effectiveness criteria, which the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) undertakes in the decision-making process on drug regulation and use. NICE believes that homoeopathic medicines should be treated in exactly the same way as traditional medicines in terms of deciding whether the NHS should provide them to the public.

In the case of the public being free to buy herbal remedies, the Conservatives have always said that, as long as a treatment has been proven to be safe then it should be available to buy. Consumers are then free to assess the effectiveness of the treatments which they purchase.

Consequently, we believe that homeopathy and alternative treatments are a valuable resource for doctors to be able to draw upon when offering treatments. Where a doctor and a patient believe that a homeopathic treatment may be of benefit to the patient, I believe doctors should be free to prescribe that medicine. All therapies should be considered equally, and decisions on whether or not to provide them on the NHS should be evidence-based, as is the case with all other conventional medicines and treatments.
kind regards
Connie

Connie Sturgess
Office of Andrew Lansley CBE MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Health