UKH Newsletter 2015

Introduction

Welcome to this January

2015 issue of the

UK healers Newsletter.

The purpose of UK Healers is to protect the public by setting standards that its member organisations accept will allow safe appropriate and effective healing by their healer members.

 

A Short History of UK Healers

The first meeting of healing organisation representatives that eventually led to UK Healers took place in 1999. Five healing organisations met at the Arthur Findlay College to explore how they trained, assessed and accepted individuals into healer membership and the scope for developing some common standards that

would apply in all the organisations involved..

.In 2000 the House of Lords issued a report on Complementary and Alternative Therapies and concluded in favour of single therapy regulation either Statutory or non-Statutory. In the case of Healing a non-statutory,voluntaryapproach was considered appropriate and that became the direction for UK Healers.

 

At about this time UK Healers also began receiving some support from The Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) and a representative of FIH became a regular attendee at the group’s meetings.

By November 2003 Standards acceptable to all of the organisations then collaborating in the work had been agreed and were published. The topics covered dealt with  qualification of Healers and Student Healers,

Training, Code of Conduct, Legal Aspects, Assessment, Complaints and Discipline.

Meanwhile FIH had been urging UK Healersto engage an Independent Chair and adopt a changed structure and FIH offered some limited funding in support.

Additional groups continued to join UK Healers and the focus moved from setting standards to establishing that the member organisations (long standing and more recent) not only agreed with the standards but actually met them.

A staged process leading to accreditation began so that by 2008 all of the organisations continuing in UK Healers membership had achieved Stage 4 Accreditation and satisfied UK Healers that they not only agreed with the standards but had provided the evidence that their documentation was consistent with the

required standards.

However the standards have been updated from time to time (the current issue is on the website) and most significantly UK Healers took part in work led by Skills for Health to develop a National Occupational Standard for healing. That work was successfully completed in 2011 (CNH25 issued March 2011) and further adjustments were made to the UK Healers standards so that they were consistent with the National Occupational Standard.

The initial accreditation had been on a time limited basis and as the UK Healers standards had evolved in response to external considerations the member organisations agreed it was necessary to be sure that UK Healers members’ current practice was in step with the standards as they had evolved. Members agreed that aprocess of re-accreditation would be appropriate and this process is currently ongoing.

 

UK Healers Membership

 

It would have been surprising if over the past 15 years there had not been significant changes in membership. Over that time some UK Healers member organisations have gained more healers. Others have seen their membership reduce or in a few cases the organisations have ceased to exist and some which once

affiliated to UK Healers have left while yet others have replaced them. All healing organisations large and small are welcome to apply to join UK Healers and will be accepted into Associate Membership (the

normal category for new member organisations) provided they can achieve the standard for accreditation. UK Healers will be ready to assist with advice on actions needed if the standards cannot be met at the outset.

The advantage for organisations of affiliating to UK Healers is the recognition it provides that the organisation places high value on protecting the public. Their individual healers are also able to reassure the public that they are Registered UK Healers. This individual healer registration is never direct but is always through the member organisation that affiliates to UK Healers. It offers a very economical way for the organisation and individual healer to provide evidence of high standards.

 

Core Curriculum

 

Readers may also be interested to know that for the past two years UK Healers has been collaborating with the Confederation of Healing Organisations (CHO) to develop,for the benefit of the whole healing movement,

a Core Curriculum which those who develop healer training programmes can use to determine topics to cover and at what depth according to the standard at which they plan to teach. This Core Curriculum which should be finalised this year not only covers all the topics in the National Occupational Standard but also aims to provide a common curriculum that satisfies the requirements of the General Regulatory Council for

Complementary Therapies and the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council for those healers who wish to register with one or other of these bodies because a publicly funded organisation usually requires

that registration.