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UK:  March 2007
Disturbing news comes to us from the UK.  In the interests of maintaining solidarity with our international colleagues, we are posting the following open letter sent to us by Carol Boyce, MCH, CCH, RSHom(NA).

Dear Homeopathic Colleague,

Re:  Death by Stealth

The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH) – the visible presence of homeopathy within Britain’s NHS - an institution putting homeopathy in the public mind for the last 150 years – the place where homeopathy was seen to perform so well in the cholera epidemic of the 1840s - is being dealt a DEATH BLOW.

The moves are subtle and insidious, but nonetheless relentless and it seems they won’t stop until the hospital is closed.  I am in no doubt that without a highly visible, vocal and active campaign, the hospital is under serious threat, with other homeopathic institutions to follow.

The recent (smear) media campaign led by Prof. Ernst, the Exeter University Chair of Complementary and Medicine, and cost cutting in an NHS strapped for cash, are cited as the main reasons.  Yet the RLHH is one of the very few areas of the NHS that actually makes money over its budget!

Without a doubt politics are at work.

A little history of the Stealth involved...  The In Patient beds at the RLHH were the first to go.  Patients then received day care at the hospital and slept in a local hotel as a means of saving money.  Now this practice has been stopped and RLHH treatment restricted to Outpatients only.

In typical media outrage – led again by Prof Ernst – it was claimed that the 20 million pound revamp of the RLHH building was NHS money that should never have been used for a therapy that doesn’t work.  (As per Prof Ernst and the Lancet article in 2005, which reported that the Swiss group's meta-analysis ‘proved’ that homeopathy does not work.)

BUT of course (and call me cynical) if you allow the hospital to be revamped and THEN push out the homeopaths, you can use a state of the art building for all kinds of NHS money-making operations.  The Camden PCT (Primary Care Trust) dictates that the homeopathic allergy clinic must now be held over at the main University College Hospital site.  It’s perfect – now the brand new rooms are not being used by the homeopaths and in order to be economically effective must be used by some other department – by default the homeopathic consulting rooms are taken over by other departments for their private practice and the hospital loses its homeopathic emphasis.

A number of PCTs have already cut funding and others intend to, so that their patients will not be able to obtain homeopathy on the NHS.  Hammersmith and Fulham are not allowing new referrals to the RLHH, six PCTs including Islington have already cut or plan to cut their contracts from April this year, other PCTs plan to follow suit and direct GPs NOT to refer patients to the RLHH.  Then Camden PCT can accuse the RLHH of a reducing patient base and lack of patient demand.  Perfect.  If this wasn’t a literal account of events, it might be amusing in its bizarre simplicity.

There are even moves afoot to change the RLHH’s name, and remove the word Homeopathic from the title, despite the building being a local landmark for more than 150 years.

No matter what your party politics, it seems to me that this is in line with the modus operandi of the day - quiet insidious shenanigans until – oops it’s a fait accompli and too late to do anything.

Whatever your assessment of the homeopathic methodology being practiced at the RLHH, they are doing important work especially in the area of allergies, autism and ADD, even given their limitation of a 20 minute consultation.  They are devoted homeopaths doing their best in a less than ideal situation.

The RLHH provides a credible face of homeopathy for the general public and with 40,000 patient appointments every year, makes homeopathy available on the NHS for a significant number of patients who could not afford to have it otherwise.

In 2005 “67% of individual GPs and 85% of practices in the host PCT (Camden) referred patients; an increase of 29%....”  (Interesting timing of this move to close the hospital given these statistics and publication of the Lancet article in 2005.)

The RLHH provides a “...holistic, patient centered, low risk, low cost, low tech approach... It offers effective and cost-effective treatments; averts multiple referrals and investigations, and treatments with which many patients fail to comply or find ineffective.”

We live in a time when many are afraid to speak their truth for fear of ridicule from colleagues, friends and family; fear of loss of position or status or research funding; fear in many forms and guises.   We live in a time when in my humble opinion, building bridges is more important than standing on ceremony.   I know first hand that the RLHH people have respect for homeopathic practitioners, the work we do, the standard of our education.  I presented at a homeopathic educators conference in 2004 in Malvern – 110 homeopaths were there – homeopathic practitioners, homeopathic doctors, homeopathic vets, homeopathic pharmacists – the first time we were all sharing ideas and learning from each other on a level playing field.   If we are to keep homeopathy on the table of health care options, we have to work together.  If you share my view, please take action now.  This concerted effort to remove homeopathy from the NHS is already in progress.  It might be that Prof Ernst will help fan the flames of another push to remove the remaining homeopathic community practicing this “ineffective” form of medicine.

We all know the issues.  It’s not about saving the NHS money, it is about politics and multi-national drug companies, the commercialization of medicine and corporate vested interests and it’s my contention that those of us working in the same arena need to support each other.  United we stand, divided we – well you know the rest!

Please tell everyone you know about what is happening and ask them to also take action – your patients, your students, family, friends, anyone interested in free access to health care choices.

Get out your best fountain pen and drop a line to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and ask for her support to preserve this 150 year old institution, of which she is the Royal Patron!  Address your letter to Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London, SW1A 1AA, UK.

This is a personal letter to the homeopathic community, not associated with anyone at the RLHH, and driven purely by my inability to stand by and watch this institution die.

Onward!
Carol Boyce, MCH, CCH, RSHom(NA)