§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy on hypnotism for entertainment; and what research she has sponsored into hypnosis and its consequences for health.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe use of hypnotism on stage is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for 599W National Heritage and, on television, for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Within the national health service, hospital medical staff and general practitioners can arrange for their patients to receive complementary and alternative therapies, including hypnosis, where they are satisfied that a clinical need for the treatment exists and if the resources can be made available locally, subject to the patient's consent to the treatment. It is widely accepted that hypnosis has a valuable role as an adjunct to medical and psychological treatments and is legitimately practised by a range of reputable therapists. Health professionals are bound by the ethical codes of conduct of their individual professions and, when practising in the NHS, by the terms of their contracts with NHS bodies. The Department has commissioned no research into hypnosis.