ITV regional news networks have recently highlighted the risk to the public resulting from the lack of acupuncture state regulation and legal minimum standards of training. I am calling for the title of acupuncturist to be protected to ensure that patients receive the highest quality and safest treatment. It is time for the regulation of acupuncture practice in the UK, and for acupuncturists to take their place as Allied Health Professionals.

25 years ago, a report into complementary medicine by the House of Lords’ Select Committee on Science and Technology led to a government response that: ‘it would be desirable to bring both acupuncture and herbal medicine within a statutory framework as soon as practicable in the interests of public safety.’

Then in 2008, the Pittilo Report to Ministers from the Department of Health Steering Group on the 'Statutory Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine' concluded that they were:

‘..strongly of the view that the decision to statutorily regulate professions practising herbal medicine and acupuncture is in the public interest’. 

They argued that the title of ‘acupuncturist’ should be protected, and the threshold entry route should be a 3-year bachelor degree level. 

However, following a parliamentary debate in 2011, the then Secretary of State for Health, Mr Andrew Lansley, stated that:

‘The practice of acupuncture is not affected by the EU directive [on the sourcing of unlicensed herbal medicines] and, therefore, compliance is not required. I am confident that acupuncturists have their own voluntary regulatory measures in place which are sufficiently robust. Additionally, local authorities in England have powers to regulate the hygiene of the practice of acupuncture to protect against the risk of transmission of certain infectious diseases’

Unfortunately, since then, the lack of regulation has contributed to:

• An increase in very short courses in ‘acupuncture’ and consequent numbers of under-qualified ‘acupuncturists’
• A decrease in degree level courses
• The creation of new membership bodies which do not act as regulators
• The creation of new bodies claiming to be ‘regulatory’ bodies which do not perform that function and do not provide an equivalent to Professional Standards Authority (PSA) oversight or statutory regulation

Practitioners on the accredited register of the UK’s largest voluntary membership body for traditional acupuncture, the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), are regulated and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health & Social Care (PSA). The PSA protects the public by overseeing the regulation and registration of healthcare professionals - including statutorily regulated professions, such as the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council. This offers a quality mark for high standards of training, safe practice and professional conduct.

They work with the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board to accredit honours degree level professional entry courses, whose curricula cover the full educational guidelines set by the BAcC.

However, the BAcC as a voluntary membership body and the PSA as overseeing regulator:

• Cannot oversee those ‘practitioners’ who do not meet their minimum educational standards and are therefore not on their register
• Cannot oversee those practitioners who choose not to be members as there is no legal requirement to be in a professional body
• Cannot stop members who have been expelled from continuing to practise
• Cannot accredit shorter courses that do not meet educational guidelines

In addition, new organisations have sprung up that are not overseen by official regulators, and have no sanctions for members who breach any professional/safety codes. Even more concerning, new oversight/regulatory bodies have been created for some of these organisations, which do not provide any equivalent to the PSA. These bodies have plausible names and websites that would mislead the public into assuming there is protection and oversight.

It has become the Wild West.

In response to concerns we raised about this current situation in 2023, Will Quince MP stated that:

‘The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care’s accredited registers provide assurance to the public when choosing and using health and care services, by independently assessing organisations that register practitioners who are not regulated by law.’

Unfortunately, we believe this situation now leaves the UK with a landscape of such confusion that appropriate PSA oversight is not something the vast majority of the public are sufficiently aware of when making their healthcare choices.

Finally, Mr Quince pointed out that acupuncturists must be licensed under the Local Government Act 2003 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, when specific controls were introduced for certain skin-piercing activities such as ear piercing, tattooing, acupuncture and electrolysis. He suggestd that 'these controls aim to ensure that premises meet hygienic standards and reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne diseases.' Whilst this is laudable, this legislation varies between London and the rest of England, and also in the devolved nations, so it contributes to the confusion.

Most importantly, it does not address the matter of qualification standards, as anyone with any kind of ‘acupuncture qualification’ - however minimal - can apply for a license. Again, this contributes to the public being misled into thinking this means they will be safe. Safe practice is not limited to hygienic practice, it encompasses:

• The ability to recognise red flags of conventional disease, or medication issues requiring referral
• The appropriate management of patients with complex and multiple conditions alongside their conventional care
• A thorough understanding of cautions and contraindications
• The possession of the necessary high-level clinical skills and knowledge to treat such patients appropriately
• The skills to recognise underlying antomy to mitigate serious adverse events

All this means the public are increasingly exposed to degraded, poorer quality and potentially less safe acupuncture care.

So again, I call for the regulation of traditional acupuncture practice in the UK to protect our profession and the public and ensure the highest standards of acupuncture care.