Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department gives to NHS trusts on the allocation of their funds for homeopathic treatment; and if he will make a statement.

The Department does not hold information on the number of hospital trusts that use some form of homeopathic treatment in their services or information on how much funding the National Health Service has allocated for the use of homeopathic treatments as requested.

The Department does not maintain a position on any particular complementary or alternative medicine treatments, including homeopathy. It is the responsibility of local NHS organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of any health care treatments for NHS patients, such as homeopathy, taking account of safety, clinical and cost effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified/regulated practitioners.

No assessment has been made of the United States administration's decision to require scientific evidence before confirming availability of the medical use of homeopathy on the Department’s current policy.