A random search of the British Government legislative website, gov.uk, Hansard records etc provides no evidence of any statutory regulations around education and training for therapists. The following are some interesting factors:
Health Act 1999: The House of Lords identified acupuncture and herbal medicine as two therapies ready for moves towards statutory regulation under this Act. However, no subsequent legislation has been enacted to regulate these therapies specifically.
The Herbalist Charter: provided by Kind Henry 8th, protects the use of herbs by people in general, no formal qualification required however it is very wise to have knowledge of herbs before use.
Lack of Statutory Regulation: There is no statutory professional regulation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, including holistic therapists, in the UK. This means that anyone can legally practice holistic therapy without formal training or certification, as long as they do not claim to be a medical doctor or make false claims about their qualifications.
Are there any other Royal Charters, Acts of Parliament , EU directives or other that come into play?
Please take time to look at your own legislature and share your findings around this subject.
This has led by and large to industry-led regulation which has set up a self-regulatory systems which are not compulsory, there are no mandates for formal education and training. However for the confidence of clients and the wider public, professional therapists ordinarily access formally structured approached to education and training. There are numerous benefits to in person training essentially observations and immediate supervision by the instructor however this can bring with it numerous additional costs. Such establishments require registrations and this incurs somewhat large amounts in fees for example.
Insurance and Liability
GBiUK Insurance: offers bespoke insurance solutions for the Health & Wellbeing sector, currently encompassing 1,500+ varying activities/therapies. BGi believe that practitioners should be adequately protected to enable them to practice and with confidence... BGi approaches the needs of all practitioners in a holistic manner.
In summary, while there is no specific UK legislation regulating holistic therapy, industry-led initiatives and insurance providers aim to maintain professional standards and provide a level of assurance for clients. It must be remembered that all educated, trained and practicing therapist come under a full body of other legislation for example health and safety at work.
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