Newsletter Headlines
Date: 11th August 2008
Topic: Naturopathic Registration
A recent article in The Australian Newspaper called for the Registration of Naturopaths as a priority. Those already following this issue in the media may have also noticed a distinct divide within the naturopathic industry.
Let's be upfront and say quite clearly, Moontides Women’s Health Centre fully supports the registration of naturopaths. We beleive that, ultimately, registration of health care practitioners serves the purpose of protecting the public.
Registration brings about regulation.
The naturopathic industry could certainly benefit from regulation so that consumers receive a similar standard of treatment across the board. Currently anyone can call themselves a naturopath. You do not need to be qualified at all, just hang out a shingle and print some business cards.
Today, most qualified naturopaths will attain membership with an industry body that has a strict code of conduct, but not all patients will ask about qualifications or association memberships.
Unfortunately, our government still does not require the same scrutiny of naturopaths. And that leaves you, the consumers of complementary medicine at the mercy of ill-qualified practitioners and unscrupulous practices. Just because something is natural doesn’t automatically qualify it as safe, there are potential risks with complementary medicines which are best avoided by seeking the advice of a fully qualified practitioner.
Naturopaths are aided in practice by scientific quantification and qualification of modern medicine. Working in the best interest of our patients dictates that naturopathic practitioners provide adequate evidence of efficacy for our treatments.
Women represent the largest users of Complementary Medicine and they are the cornerstone of our practice. We believe they should be confident in the treatments they receive.
Ethically, as care providers, naturopaths are bound to do no harm. Morally, we owe it to ourselves and our clients to provide the best possible treatments for their condition. A hit and miss approach to prescribing is simply not acceptable.
So. while we await formal registration, for our part, Moontides can promise our patients that all our naturopaths are qualified to a minimum level of bachelor degree. Our naturopaths are members of designated industry associations and adhere to their code of practice.
Above all we promise you that all our practitioners will act with integrity and always in your best interest.
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