Questions about the placebo effect.

[Benguin]

I actually find it frightening that the NHS is spending it's limited resources on this unproven field ... even if they don't own up to it anywhere on their main site

These five hospitals that get mentioned ... are they NHS entities, or do they simply get block grants from the trust? Anyway of knowing how much is spent dishing out homeopathic remedies on prescription (FP10?)

 

[Rolfe]

It's a bit of a side-issue. I think only two of the "hospitals" actually take in-patients. The London Homoeopathic Hospital says on its web site that it recently had major refurbishment, which is money wasted that would have been welcome elsewhere, but with Prince Charles (and even Cherie Blair) around, sometimes it's politically expedient to give in to the woo-woos a bit. None of the hospitals is very big.

The thing that they don't say on their web site is that one of the big London boroughs recently terminated their contract with them and decided to pay for no more patients to be sent, because they recognised they were getting no benefit from the money.

Overall I don't think it's a huge amount of money, though no doubt annoying that they get any.

But my GP friend tells me that NICE have now said to the homoeopaths, OK, you want funding, prove your remedies work. To our standards, please, the same standards we require for the latest cancer cure or whatever. That's all. Now off you go and do it.

Watch this space.

Rolfe.