"The word 'placebo' means 'I will please', and although it's often used as a criticism of complementary medicine, it can have amazing effects," says Berkovitz. "Otherwise, why would people travel to see us from all over the country? What's more, why would they keep coming back?"The Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, despite its name, also offers therapies including acupuncture and Western herbal medicine Referral by GP is required. 020 7391 8833; .uk Need to know * Homoeopathy is based on treating "like with like", which means a substance that can cause certain symptoms in a healthy person can cure similar symptoms in a sick person.* Homoeopathic doctors don't think of illnesses and cures. Since my treatment, I hardly ever need any painkillers, despite cutting back on exercise and having no physiotherapy."Maybe the effect of "rubbing it better" is more powerful than we realise. Since she first visited the hospital four years ago, Nina Barnett is in good health.
She took two homoeopathic pills twice a day until the pain eased, to "tighten the ligaments", a treatment not available in conventional medicine. If the pain comes back, she needs to take them again until it eases, and for two weeks afterwards."I'm not saying they waved a magic wand because that didn't happen," she says "But five years down the line, I'm much better. Patients are increasingly requesting homoeopathy and other complementary therapies (the RLHH also provides therapies such as herbalism, acupuncture and nutritional medicine).Up to 40 per cent of GPs are providing access to them, though whether your GP can refer you to a homoeopath is something of a post-code lottery, depending on how local funding is allocated). Surveys show that rates of patient satisfaction with their experience at the RLHH are consistently high and the reduced time these patients spend at their GP's surgery or at specialist clinics makes homoeopathy a cost-effective option.For now, an important way of judging homoeopathy's effectiveness is perhaps through the anecdotal evidence of patients.
There is even an acronym, TEETH - "Tried Everything Else - Try Homoeopathy" But this is now much more rarely the case. Many of the RLHH's patients have referred themselves.At a time when patient choice is at the heart of NHS policy-making, this alone might be seen to justify the millions in public money spent on homoeopathy. Homoeopathy doesn't help everyone."The conditions it does treat read like a list of general practitioners' "heart-sink" complaints: allergies, headaches, premenstrual syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, stress, insomnia, back pain. Some have put the high level of referrals to homoeopaths down to GPs' anxiety to rid their consulting rooms of hopeless cases There may be some truth in this, Berkovitz admits. Much of complementary medicine is unregulated and often mercenary. At the RLHH, however, there is a strong ethic to work hand in hand with orthodox medicine.First appointments are generally 45 minutes long; follow-ups last 20 minutes.
