UK’s first NHS Trust-approved complementary therapies school students graduate! The very first training school in the UK approved by the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to offer training in complementary therapies to help people with a diagnosis of cancer was launched in North Yorkshire last year. The Natural Health School is based at Harrogate District Hospital’s Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, and provides a range of courses at different grades and for different levels of experience. The School was created to improve the availability of complementary therapies for patients with complex health needs. Very few places in the UK provide complementary therapy treatments for people with cancer and other complex conditions, yet the physical and emotional benefits can be huge. Courses include OFQUAL awarded programmes such as the Level 3 ITEC diploma courses in Reflexology, Aromatherapy and Holistic Massage. The core skills taught on these courses are not specific to patients with cancer, and can be applied to any person wishing to have that treatment. The school also offers Continuing Professional Development and short courses in Palliative Care, Daoyin Tao (a unique blend of Chinese acupressure and Western massage techniques), EMMETT Therapy for Pain Management, the Bowen Technique, (a form of massage) and Self-Care to name but a few. A unique ‘Certificate in Complementary Therapies’ has also been created for Complementary Therapists qualified at Level 3 who wish to develop their skills and practice with cancer patients to the standards required by NHS organisations. Unlike any other training currently available, students are required to achieve set competencies during 100 hours of clinically supervised practice within healthcare settings to ensure safe, confident and competent practitioners. The evening of 17th October was to mark the graduation ceremony of the first cohort of students to complete the course and achieve their certificates. Certificates were awarded by Sarah grant, Macmillan Information and Wellbeing Services Manager and Steve Russell, Chief Executive, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to: ITEC level 3 graduates in Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Massage Graduates with the NHS certificate in complementary therapies, occupational health and Cancer pathways Graduates of the Certificate in cancer and palliative care for complementary therapists Special thanks must go to Fiona Adamson and staff at The Granby Care Home for providing a beautiful venue for our first graduation ceremony and education facilities for our students, and Matthew Mackaness and Sarah Johnson, Rudding Park Hotel and Spa for providing  outstanding support and education facilities for so many of our courses. Special awards were given to; Sharon Shove for Aromatherapist of the year by Matthew Mackaness, Director and Sarah Johnson Spa manager, Rudding Park                                                                                                                                        Elizabeth Clarke for student of the year by Fiona Adamson, Business  Development Manager, The Granby Care Home                 Melanie Lagan for Academic Achievement by Paul Simpson, Cancer Services Manager and Noreen Hawkshaw, Lead Cancer Nurse      The next group of students commenced their learning this month so we are looking forward to next year’s graduation and congratulating the students on their achievements. https://www.brighterkind.com/care-homes/the-granby https://www.ruddingpark.co.uk/

We are celebrating our 1st Birthday! We can’t believe it’s 12 months since we launched the NHS Natural Health School at the NEC in Birmingham. It’s been quite a year, and we couldn’t be happier of our achievements so far. Thank you to everyone who has attended our courses and supported us as  we continue to strive to improve the standards of Complementary Therapy delivery and develop the next generation of Complementary Therapy Experts. Since our launch we have; Had 124,461 visits to our website Held 26 courses Trained 140 students Created and delivered the first NHS Certificate in Complementary Therapy training for Cancer and Occupational Health Pathways Winner of the FHT Complementary Therapy Tutor of the year award 2018 Winner of the Complementary Therapy Award for Furthering Integrated Healthcare 2018 Winner of the Janey Loves Platinum Award Complementary Therapy Wellbeing Charity of the Year 2018 Finalist of the FHT Complementary Therapist of the Year Award  2018 Finalist of the Medipex NHS Innovation Award 2018 Presented at 4 National Conferences Have been published in featured articles by the Voluntary Regulatory Organisations CNHC and FHT, professional journals and the press Been guests on local and BBC Radio Featured guest of  the month for The Therapist Business Club providing vlogs and blogs for members in 2018    

FHT article “NHS role model  – Gwyn Featonby” Gwyn Featonby, 2018 FHT Tutor of the Year and Education Lead at the NHS Natural Health School, talks about developing the first NHS approved Complementary Therapy School. First published in International Therapist, Issue 127, Winter 2019. Read the full article here

The All – Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare (PGIH) has called on Parliament to develop a strategy which includes the integration of Complementary Therapies alongside conventional medicine to ease the burden on the NHS.  The report highlights the huge under-utilised resource of professional therapists, who could work in collaboration with conventional medicine to improve patient outcomes. “The future of healthcare lies in our health system recognising that physical, emotional and mental health are intrinsically linked, and that only by treating a patient as a whole person can we tackle the root cause of illness and deal with the problem of patients presenting with multiple and complex conditions.” We are delighted to have provided clinical evidence to the authors and for our service to have been included in this report.  The recommendations support our own findings in practice. Follow the link below to read in full https://www.cnhc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Downloads/BoardPaper07-Feb2019.pdf