I have become very interested in homeopathy lately and would like to study this and qualify as a homeopath. Once qualified, can I be sued if something goes wrong?
There has been much in the press lately about complementary therapies being offered at degree level for study. The argument is that there is a sufficient body of knowledge for the therapies to constitute a scientific degree. This being the case then there is a given standard of care to which complementary therapists should conform and below which they should not fall when practising.
There are also now societies or bodies to which complementary therapists should belong to show they have reached a certain level of training and often these bodies also establish a standard of care against which their members can be measured.
For complementary and conventional medicine, the test for assessing whether treatment received by a patient is acceptable is: (i) whether the treatment given fell below the standard which is to be expected of a reasonably competent and skilful therapist or doctor and (ii) there is no other responsible body of therapists or doctors that would consider the treatment given to be within acceptable limits.
In addition to this, the treatment (or in some cases lack of treatment) must result in injury in some way – this may take the form of obvious problems or may be recovery takes much longer than anticipated.
As you are probably aware, whilst there have been many claims against the medical profession, there have been comparatively few against complementary practitioners – this may be because these therapies have not been available until relatively recently or patients are satisfied with their outcomes.
However it remains that if you are to practise in the field of complementary medicine, you may be sued if you do not meet the required standard and you must ensure you take out the necessary insurance if you are practising privately.
