§ Mr. TredinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken to recognise at420W consultant level those practitioners with extensive experience in homeopathic medicine gained before 1 January 1997; [86326]
(2) what provision there is for the training of orthodox physicians in their conventional path of accreditation in homeopathy and complementary medicine; [86329]
(3) if homeopathic medicine is recognised as a specialty in the United Kingdom. [86327]
§ Mr. DenhamThere is currently no statutory training path for doctors in homeopathy in the United Kingdom, although consultants in homeopathy have been appointed in the National Health Service. Since 1 January 1997 it has been a requirement to be on the General Medical Council's Specialist Register in order to be eligible for appointment as a substantive NHS consultant. Doctors holding substantive NHS consultant appointments in homeopathy before 31 December 1998 were able to apply for inclusion in the Register under transitional provisions in the European Specialist Medical Qualifications Order 1995 (as amended). New consultants in homeopathy would ordinarily expect to be trained in another medical specialty recognised for the purposes of specialist registration, as well as in the non-statutory requirements for homeopathy.
The requirements for specialist medical education are governed by European Directive 93/16/EEC. The practice of homeopathy varies greatly across the European Economic Area, and there is no provision within the Directive to recognise homeopathy for the purposes of medical training. The Faculty of Homeopathy has previously indicated its intention to develop a nationally recognised training programme in homeopathy. In order to do so, the Faculty would need to satisfy the Specialist Training Authority of the Medical Royal Colleges (STA) that the training programme met the requirements of Directive 93/16/EEC. It would then be for the STA to apply to the Secretary of State for Health for inclusion of the specialty in the European Specialist Medical Qualifications Order 1995 (as amended).