Acupuncturists' shake-up concerns

Businesses who provide acupuncture services are concerned

Ministers have been urged to clarify new regulations governing tattoo parlours and acupuncture services.

From 1 April, operators require a licence and also written consent from parents of under-16s before carrying out skin and body piercing.

Acupuncturists said they have not been properly consulted on the move and are worried about their businesses.

The Scottish Executive said it had provided guidance on the matter and would clarify the law where necessary.

Mairi Menzies, spokeswoman for PhysioFirst, an organisation which represents physiotherapists in private practice, said there were worries within the industry.

We had been involved in the initial consultation in 2001 and then we heard nothing until January Michael O'Farrell British Acupuncture Council

"We're very concerned as it suddenly leaves us in the situation with no warning that legally we're non-licensed to practice acupuncture in our physiotherapy clinics," she said.

"There was no consultation with our body, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy or the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists.

"There seemed to be a situation where they had forgotten that this law has suddenly incorporated us into it."

Michael O'Farrell, Chief Executive of the British Acupuncture Council, said: "We had been involved in the initial consultation in 2001 and then we heard nothing until January.

'Lumped in'

"By that point, of course, we found that professional acupuncturists were being lumped in with tattooists and all other skin piercers."

Chartered physiotherapist Allison Downey, who works in Edinburgh, said she was "flabbergasted" to learn that the people who had drafted the bill did not know or understand how acupuncture worked.

She added: "They're very keen to license the premises and not license the practitioner."

Operators need to be licensed

A spokesman for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in Scotland said: "The regulations currently sought to exempt medical practitioners, but it seems that nobody thought that other registered health professionals should also be included in that bracket.

"In fact, the majority of acupuncture in the NHS is carried out by health professionals other than medical practitioners."

In a statement, the executive said: "Only registered medical practitioners working in a hospital or independent clinics are exempt from these regulations.

'Safe practice'

"We have provided guidance on this order and will continue to clarify interpretation of it with the public and with local authorities.

"The safe practice guidance for acupuncture provides guidance that gloves should be worn if the patient is bleeding, has open lesions or if the practitioner has cuts on their hands.

"We're listening to views from the physiotherapists and professional bodies about the wearing of gloves and we are currently looking at the available evidence."