Media - it just gets worse

[Steve Scrutton]

This is probably not a good time to talk about what is happening in detail
because it is a time when negotiations are going on within ARH, the Society,
and other membership organisations. Suffice to say that CORH came up with a
consultation exercise earlier in the year that was suggesting the shape to
come, and we were certainly far from happy with it. Many of our members
weren't either, and told us. Our representatives on CORH council went to
express our reservations, and we were pleasantly surprised to here that
other membership bodies were also far from convinced about what was being
proposed.

The outcome was that we were all sent away to consider alternative
proposals, and return to discuss them - in September. ARH is now consulting
its membership, and in its magazine, Homeopathy in Practice, there is a
statement from Karin Mont on our broad position, alongside a copy of the
consultation paper. In all this we are hoping to work very closely with the
Society, and others too, because we want to make sure that we get the
structure right.

We think what was being proposed would have been expensive (and many
homeopaths would not have chosen to join as a result), threatened the
survival of the membership organisations (which seems foolish, given the
good work that has been done by them over the years), and I think it made us
think in a more focused way about what want from a central organisation for
homeopathy in the UK? For instance, a single register seems sensible; and
there may be other things that it could do - to provide a 'united' voice for
dealing with the press and media, not least when we are under attack. But
the point we are making is that this need not require a huge bureaucratic
organisation, in expensive premises, etc., to achieve it

So the next few weeks are going to be important, and hopefully something
very positive will come out of it. Hope this helps

Steve Scrutton
Homeopath
Registrar, Alliance of Registered Homeopaths

[Simon King LCPH MARH]

But

Pity it took years to realise that! LOL!