Regulation of CAM practitioners

Regulation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine practitioners

With its purpose of dissemination of research findings, and to ensure a continuing link between CAM and conventional medicine, the RCCM works with a range of professional bodies representing CAM practitioners in the UK. 

The aim of regulation is to assure patient safety. The regulation of practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine is a mix of statutory (compulsory) and voluntary registration. The only two CAM professions statutorily regulated through Acts of Parliament are osteopathy and chiropractic: the General Osteopathic Council GOsC) http://www.osteopathy.org.uk/ and the Chiropractic Council (GCC) http://www.gcc-uk.org.

The government encourages complementary and alternative medicine professions to work towards voluntary regulation, if not under statute. The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) http://www.cnhc.org.uk maintains a voluntary register for practitioners in many complementary therapies and a list of these professions can be found on its web site.

Please note that the regulatory position of individual CAM professions is always developing so we do suggest that you check the Department of Health website, and that of the CNHC. Individual professional bodies can also provide advice on profession regulation.

Regulation of CAM Practitioners in Europe

Regulation of CAM practice in Europe varies from country to country, though is generally restricted to practitioners who are medically qualified. With this in mind you should check the website of the organisation concerned to check in the country as the RCCM cannot guarantee the currency of regulation. If you do have any specific queries though do please approach us.