Regulation of Acupuncture: Evaluation and Recommendations

This report evaluates the current system utilized for the regulation of acupuncture and provides recommendations for improvement in regulatory systems including ethical choices, consent, GDPR, and confidentiality.

Acupuncture

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BIDY...............................................................................................................................................3
1. Evaluate the current system utilized for the regulation complimentary alternative therapies...............3
2. Evaluate the statutory self regulation system and the voluntary self regulation system (membership
bodies).....................................................................................................................................................5
3. Provide recommendations for the improvement with regulatory systems including ethical choices,
consent, GDPR and confidentiality..........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Acupuncture is considered as the form of alternative medicine and a primary components
of the traditional Chinese medicine at which thin needles are interpolated into the human body.
Acupuncture is determine as pseudoscience science because the practices as well as theories of
TCM are generally not consider and depend upon knowledge of scientific aspects and it also
characterized as the quackery (He and et.al., 2020). According to the modern research, respective
method mainly effects on nervous system, immune system, endocrine, digestive system and
cardiovascular system. In this stimulation of the body’s various systems are conducted as well as
acupuncture also aid in resolving the pain, enhance good sleep, leads to well being of sense and
improve digestive function. The main aim of conducting this report is to understand role of
complementary therapies in the health and social care sector as well as it also evaluate about its
effectiveness in maintaining health and wellbeing effectively. In respect of this, report will
include numbers of topics related to respective aspect such as evaluation of current system
utilized for the regulation of complimentary therapies related to acupuncture. It also includes
statutory self regulation system and the voluntary self regulation system of acupuncture as well
as it also includes recommendations for the improvement.
MAIN BIDY
1. Evaluate the current system utilized for the regulation complimentary alternative therapies.
Acupuncture is determined as the treatment which is derived from the ancient Chinese
medicine. In this fine needles were inserted at the certain sites in a person’s body for conduct
therapeutic or preventative process. It is mostly used in NHS (National Health Service) GP
practices. Moreover it is also considered as most pain clinics as well as hospices at the United
Kingdom. It is also considered as the form of the CAM (complementary or alternative
medicines). In respect of The National institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) who
provide guidelines to the NHS for conduct acupuncture practices in effective manner as well as
well as they also recommend situations for which acupuncture can be used properly
(Acupuncture. 2020). That will include migraines, joint pain, and chronic tension type
headaches, chronic pain like neck pain, dental pain, and postoperative pain.

Acupuncture is available on the NHS through the GP surgeries as well as
physiotherapists. The initial session of acupuncture is generally lasts 20 minutes to the 1 hour as
well as that will involves the assessment of general health, physical examination and medical
history which is followed by the insertion of acupuncture needle. In respect method, needles are
inserted into the specific place on an individual body which is known as the acupuncture points.
According to guideline, first doctor or acupuncturists will ask patient to sit or lie down as well as
they may also ask to remove some cloth as they need to determine the certain points of the body
(Ho and et.al., 2020). In addition to according to standard, the needles used in respective methods
are very fine and few centimeters long as well as they are used single time. Moreover it is
essential to conduct pre sterilized of the needle and after that disposed of needle will be done. In
this process the needles are inserted just under skin or deeper so that they reach muscles. Once
the needles reach to place practitioner will left it in the position for a length for specific time
duration i.e. around 30 minutes. During this a person body feel tingling as well as it also leads to
dull ache at the time when needle are inserted but it not lead to significant pain.
Moreover in respect of safety and regulation for the acupuncture, then in this respect
there is no statutory regulation of acupuncture in the England. Due to this it is recommended to
check as well as gather information about the acupuncture practitioner a person is planning to
consult. Along with this, it is also essential to check that acupuncture practitioner must be either
regulated healthcare professional for example nurse, doctor, member of a national acupuncture
organization or physiotherapist. This is so because that will leads feeling that an individual is
consulting with the best acupuncture practitioner. Moreover, there is proper website a person
find the registered acupuncture practitioners i.e. The professional Standards Authority for Health
and Social Care website. It is generally essential to check the acupuncture practitioner because it
is safe as they know the proper process, guidelines and regulation which need to follow by them.
In addition to this, there are some short term side effects which are experienced by some
individual after or during acupuncture such as pain where needles are punctured in skin,
drowsiness, feeling sick, bleeding or bruising where needles punctured, feeling faint or dizzy,
worsening of pre existing symptoms and many more (Lai and et.al., 2020). So it is essential for
the practitioner to understand these side effects and then treat their patients accordingly and as
per the given standers as well as guidelines.

Furthermore, the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) published on paper to the
secretary of the state for health expressing about its concern related to the impact of their
statement to the House of Commons at 16th February. This is related to the statutory regulation of
the herbal medicines (HM) as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In addition to
this,BAcC called for the statutory regulation in respect of the acupuncture profession along with
the herbal medicines and Traditional Chinese medicines as at the case in different nations around
the humankind (Statutory regulation for Acupuncture, 2016). At this The British Acupuncture
Council is satisfied that acupuncture is described as the offering robust self regulation but it is
essential to ensure that respective method enjoy similar opportunity as the statutorily regulated
providers. According to The British Acupuncture Council the respective statement developed
uncertainty s well as it leads to meet the secretary of state of his officials in order to discuss how
the statutory regulation can currently extended for the acupuncture profession.
2. Evaluate the statutory self regulation system and the voluntary self regulation system
(membership bodies).
Self-regulation simply means that government has granted professional group like
registered nurses, the privilege as well as responsibility for regulating themselves. In addition to
this, self-regulation acknowledges that professionals themselves are in best position for
regulating its registrants because their specialized knowledge body which makes regulation
related to external factors difficult as well as impractical. BAcC (The British Acupuncture
Council) accepts the legal guideline of HM and TCM without legal guideline for needle therapy
may make disarray for patients and the overall population - some Chinese home grown
medication and TCM professionals who additionally practice impressive measures of needle
therapy might be legally managed, while the individuals who represent considerable authority in
needle therapy are most certainly not (Law, Wang and Li, 2020). BAcC individuals additionally
accept that it might prompt HM and TCM professionals who give needle therapy having an
uncalled for upper hand in various regions, including their capacity to be appointed by the NHS
and financed by private medical coverage. The BAcC is satisfied that needle therapy has been
depicted as offering powerful self-guideline, yet wishes to guarantee that needle therapy ought to
appreciate comparative open doors as legally managed suppliers. The BAcC (The British
Acupuncture Council) accepts the announcement makes vulnerability and has solicited to meet

the Secretary from State, or his authorities, to talk about how legal guideline would now be able
to be stretched out to the needle therapy calling.
In addition to this, regulation related to acupuncture is done through governmental bodies
for ensuring safe practices. Moreover, idea is to convince policymakers as well as general people
which laws are not required for restricting marketing to youth or any other type of advertisement.
Instead of this, healthcare industries rely in broken system of voluntary rules which get to
monitor, enforce as well as define (Liu and et.al., 2020). Along with this, Acupuncture therapy
improves the body's capacities and advances the normal self-mending process by invigorating
explicit anatomic locales - ordinarily alluded to as needle therapy focuses, or acupoints. The
most widely recognized technique used to invigorate acupoints is the inclusion of fine, sterile
needles into the skin. Weight, heat, or electrical incitement may additionally upgrade the
impacts. Other acupoint incitement methods include: manual back rub, moxibustion or warmth
treatment, measuring, and the use of skin home grown meds and liniments. In simple term it can
be said that, in Acupuncture self-regulation play important role because it help in providing
treatment within safe and secure manner. So that, health of individual get enhance in effective
manner as well as if they are going through any pain all that then recover in better manner. Self-
regulation simply means that government has granted professional group like registered nurses,
the privilege as well as responsibility for regulating themselves. In addition to this, self-
regulation acknowledges that professionals themselves are in best position for regulating its
registrants because their specialized knowledge body which makes regulation related to external
factors difficult as well as impractical. BAcC (The British Acupuncture Council) individuals
additionally accept that it might prompt HM and TCM professionals who give needle therapy
having an uncalled for upper hand in various regions, including their capacity to be appointed by
the NHS and financed by private medical coverage (Lu and et.al., 2020). The BAcC is satisfied
that needle therapy has been depicted as offering powerful self-guideline, yet wishes to guarantee
that needle therapy ought to appreciate comparative open doors as legally managed suppliers.
The BAcC accepts the announcement makes vulnerability and has solicited to meet the Secretary
from State, or his authorities, to talk about how legal guideline would now be able to be stretched
out to the needle therapy calling.

3. Provide recommendations for the improvement with regulatory systems including ethical
choices, consent, GDPR and confidentiality.
Regulatory system is considered as specialized subsystem which is developed to regulate
as well as monitor the behaviour and operation of broader system. It is determined as the main
portion in order to develop as well as maintain the functionality in the society. Regulatory system
is generally developed by government for all industries as well as civilians so that they know
their rights, duties as well as responsibilities effectively (Moon and et.al., 2020). This will help in
creating as well as maintaining proper and positive environment at the society as well as
workplace. In respect of Acupuncture, there is no regulation as well as standard according to
which their professionals are working. So it is recommended to the government of the nations to
develop proper statutory regulatory system as well as ensure that all the respective field
practitioners or professional will follow it properly. This is so because that will satisfy feeling of
patients as their acupuncture practitioner is conducting their treatment according to the
regulations as well as standards which are developed by government bodies. So it is essential for
the government to develop proper strategies, regulations and rules for the acupuncture practices
as well as while developing the strategies they need to considered several aspects. Below some
of the main aspects is given along with its explanation:-
 Ethical choices – It is also considered as the ethical decision making which is considered
as the procedure of evaluating as well as selecting among the best alternatives in a way
consistent with the ethical principles (Smith and et.al., 2020). While taking ethical choice
or ethical decisions it is essential to eliminated as well as perceive unethical options and
chose the best ethical alternatives. As per the recommendation it is essential for the
government to consider ethical choices of the society in respect of the acupuncture
practices as that will help in developing regulation for their convenience as well as for
developing security related to the respective treatment practices.
 Consent – Consent happens when one individual deliberately consents to the proposition
or wants of another. It is a term of normal discourse, with explicit definitions as utilized
in such fields as the law, medication, research, and sexual connections. Assent as
comprehended in explicit settings may contrast from its regular significance. Along with
this, it is also known as permission for conducting something by taking proper agreement
for that. In respect of government while developing regulation related to the acupuncture

treatment it is essential to be considered that there must be proper agreement among the
patient as well as acupuncture practitioner. Moreover that agreement will include all the
essential information related to the treatment procedure as well as resources used in that.
 GDPR (General data protection right) – The General Data Protection Regulation is a
guideline in EU law on information insurance and security in the European Union and the
European Economic Area (Xu and et.al., 2020). It likewise addresses the exchange of
individual information outside the EU and EEA zones. In respect of government it is
essential for them to develop rules and regulation according to which personal as well as
private information of patient is not revile or used in illegal activities by the acupuncture
practitioner. Moreover it is also related to protecting the personal as well as private
information of staffs and other members too who are related to the acupuncture centre.
 Confidentiality – According to this, it is essential for the companies and other members
to always keep the essential as well as important information in confidential manner so
that no one can reach to that. Through this they able to avoid illegal activities this can be
conducted through information. Similarly government must develop strategy according to
which acupuncture practitioner must keep confidential to the patient as well as staffs
personal and private information in proper manner.
These are the main recommendations for the government so that they considered these
while developing rules, regulations, policies and guidelines related to acupuncture practices. This
is so because that will help in conducting practices in effective as well as appropriate manner.
CONCLUSION
Through the evaluation of above mentioned and described topics it can be summarized
that there is proper methods and regulation for each and every type treatment methods in the
health and social care sector. This is so because that help in ensuring that all the treatment
practices are conducted in ethical manner as well as according to guidelines which also leads to
minimize in error or any mistakes. It is also essential to follow each and every regulation or
standard while treating patients through using acupressure method. In addition to this there is
also proper statutory self regulation system as well as voluntary self regulation system according
to the acupressure methods which is essential to follow by medical professional. Along with this,

there are also necessary to considered or include ethical choice, GDPR (General data protection
right), confidentiality and consent while developing strategies related to the workplace regulation
system. This is so because that will develop feeling of the secure as well as effectiveness of the
treatment among the patients of the acupuncture practitioner. Moreover, it also helps in ensuring
that therapy is conducted in best as well as proper manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
He, Y. and et.al., 2020. Clinical evidence for association of acupuncture and acupressure with
improved cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA oncology. 6(2).
pp.271-278.
Ho, R.S. and et.al., 2020. Non-specific effects of acupuncture and sham acupuncture in clinical
trials from the patient’s perspective: a systematic review of qualitative
evidence. Acupuncture in Medicine. p.0964528420920299.
Lai, F. and et.al., 2020. Acupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) for experimental sepsis: a systematic
review. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2020.
Law, S.K., Wang, L. and Li, T., 2020. Acupuncture for glaucoma. Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews. (2).
Liu, T. and et.al., 2020. Acupuncture for Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Meta-analysis of
Randomized Controlled Trials. Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine. 26(2).
Lu, W. and et.al., 2020. Acupuncture for chemotherapy‐induced peripheral neuropathy in breast
cancer survivors: A randomized controlled pilot trial. The oncologist. 25(4). p.310.
Moon, H.Y. and et.al., 2020. Safety of acupuncture during pregnancy: a retrospective cohort
study in Korea. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 127(1).
pp.79-86.
Smith, C.A. and et.al., 2020. Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management during
labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2).
Xu, S. and et.al., 2020. Manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture and usual care for
prophylaxis of episodic migraine without aura: multicentre, randomised clinical
trial. BMJ. 368.
Online
Acupuncture. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acupuncture/#:~:text=There's%20no%20statutory
%20regulation%20of%20acupuncture%20in%20England.&text=You%20can%20find
%20an%20accredited,acupuncture%20is%20generally%20very%20safe. >.
Statutory regulation for Acupuncture. 2016. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/public-content/public-regulation-updates/1323-
statutory-regulation-for-acupuncture.html>.