Parliament Workbench

Petition · PE01590 · Session 4

Licences for Acupuncturists

Closed Submitted 28 Oct 2015 Health
Signatures
0
235 online signatures with a country
Comments
11
Considered
2 meetings
in the Official Report

What it asks

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make a provision that exempts British Acupuncture Council practitioners from fees for Skin Piercing licenses (as long as they can demonstrate that they are a member of the British Acupuncture Council, a member of a professional body accredited by the Professional Standards Authority), as occurs in London.

What the petitioner did first

• The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) has fully informed the UK wide Professional Standards Authority for health and social care of this issue.
• BAcC has liaised with the Scottish Government Public Health Team and the Chair of a Scottish Skin Piercing and Tattooing Working Group.
• BAcC has also been in touch with the Scottish Government’s minister with the health brief about this issue.
• The relevant legislation is the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Skin Piercing and Tattooing) Licensing Order 2006 No43.
• There are 32 separate unitary authorities who individually set their own applications fees and who set their own licence conditions (despite the efforts of the Working Group to be consistent throughout). It was also advised that exemption from the Licensing Order can occur via an amendment to the order itself through exemption by the Professional Standards Authority as per the Licensing Order.
• Contact has also been made with relevant officials at COSLA, with no response.

Where it was considered

Official Report
  1. 15 Dec 2015
    Public Petitions Committee
    New Petitions
    1 mention
  2. 23 Feb 2016
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention

Signatures by country

235 online signatures
  1. Scotland165 70.2%
  2. United Kingdom32 13.6%
  3. England30 12.8%
  4. Wales2 0.9%
  5. Ireland1 0.4%
  6. United States1 0.4%
  7. Canada1 0.4%
  8. Northern Ireland1 0.4%
  9. United States Minor Outlying Islands1 0.4%
  10. Netherlands1 0.4%

Comments

11 comments, oldest first
  1. Quintus Farrell 28 Oct 2015
    The skin piercing and tattooing regulations impose an unnecessary burden on my business and do not appear to improve safety or efficacy to the profession or for the public at large.
  2. Yasmina Ferrigan 28 Oct 2015
    Acupuncture is not a permanent piercing & it stimulates healing & promotes health.
  3. Claire Marcello 29 Oct 2015
    Accredited acupuncturists are qualified practitioners and are vetted before being added to the register. Tattooing for instance does not require such qualifications, and poses a greater risk, due to the permanent placement of ink under the skin. Piercing inserts and implant or source of infection and at a deeper level of penetration than acupuncture needles.
    My personal experience is that acupuncture has treated me for chronic pain, stress, anxiety and fertility issues as wel as IBS both safely and successfully, and where conventional medicine could not. The practitioners deserve recognition for their expertise.
  4. Ruari Wilson 31 Oct 2015
    I am kept in very good health through regular sessions with my acupuncturist
    - I trust him totally and know that he meets high professional standards
  5. Kevin G McGhee 2 Nov 2015
    This has to be looked at and excepted. Many years ago I asked the former SNP Andrew Welsh to look into this, hopefully it will now be sorted.
  6. Isobel Ganderton 2 Nov 2015
    I hope that this is looked into and actioned for those it affects.
  7. Rhian Wright 2 Nov 2015
    The charges Edinburgh impose on acupuncturists aren't based on anything specific (that we know of). They seem to have pick a numbers out of the air. It should be based on transparent reasoning.

    How can there be such a vast difference between what one local authority charges compared to others
  8. Denise Violet Stewart 4 Nov 2015
    The BAcC membership should be sufficient. It covers all criteria.
  9. Alexandra Gilmartin 16 Nov 2015
    Acupuncture is not an 'alternative' therapy and is now considered mainstream, backed up with a growing evidence as to its efficacy. It should be considered medical, and therefore should be exempt from the licensing fees.
  10. Clifton Wicks 20 Nov 2015
    As a practising acupuncturist with over 20 years experience of private practice and 9 years in the NHS, with a Master of Science Degree from the University of Wales, I regard it as totally unreasonable to be treated differently from other similar health professionals, e.g. physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths in the matter of licensing. This discriminating and demeaning anomaly deserves to be corrected forthwith .
  11. christine sloan 25 Nov 2015
    A Degree Course in Acupuncture includes thousands of hours study and should not be compared to a skin piercing businesses.