OKEHAMPTON'S position as a pioneer in integrated health care is set to be strengthened with the creation of an innovative clinic offering patients the best of orthodox and complementary medicine.
The Dartmoor Integrated Health Centre will be one of the first of its kind and will operate from a special unit at the recently opened Okehampton Community Hospital.
Fundrasising for the clinic has just begun with organisers looking for around £45,000 to cover first-year running costs.
Though privately funded in its first two years, the hope is once the clinic is up and running, a research project will demonstrate the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of this type of centre and NHS funds could be made available for its work.
Prince Charles, a supporter of complementary medicine, has been invited officially to open the new clinic next spring.
The integrated clinic will bring together GPs and practitioners of complementary medicine to examine the best way to treat the whole person. It is estimated it could handle around 200 patients a year.
The facility will be available to all patients within the Mid Devon Primary Care Trust following GP referral and will be the first time such an integrated service has been available within the NHS.
Okehampton GP Tom Bell, one of the doctors behind the scheme, said: 'I think it is an exciting project. It is in line with the whole concept of the hospital to cover a wider scope than a traditional hospital, offering people different ways to achieve good health.
'It should contribute to a culture within the local community that recognises self-help and the importance of a patient's own role in his health and treatment.
'Indeed, the integrated clinic should become a Trojan horse that will spearhead change locally towards greater self-help, self-dependence and motivation to maintain personal health and the health of the environment.'
Dr Bell said the innovative centre would be targeted towards patients with 'complex problems which cannot be treated by orthodox medicine alone.
'An integrated approach begins with a holistic consultation and diagnosis. This allows all factors in a patient's history to be taken into account and the formulation of a diagnosis that is patient-centred and based on the patient's own priorities.'
He said the integrated approach also emphasised the patient's own role in recovery and maintaining health.
Dr Bell said the centre was needed because many patients have complex problems which cannot be dealt with adequately in the average seven to ten-minute GP consultation.
'The idea is not to focus on one symptom but to look at a more long lasting treatment of the whole person.
'Many patients may wish to try a complementary approach but may find it difficult to get unbiased advice on which approach or therapist to see.'
'Half of patients visiting complementary practitioners do not tell their GP's which at best leads to unco-ordinated treatment and at worst can be dangerous.
Meanwhile, threequarters of patients feel that complementary medicine should be offered on the NHS.'
The integrated clinic will be the centrepiece of a number of other world first initiatives in integrated medicine at the new Okehampton Hospital.
The healing garden in the hospital has already proved a great success and there will be evening self-help classes for those attending the clinic, which will also be available to the local community.
Next year, the hospitalwill be working in conjunction with the Peninsula Medical School to offer teaching in complementary medicine for qualified GPs and students..
'These educational and research initiatives will complement the work of the integrated clinic as a local flagship, which is likely in time to attract increasing international as well as national interest,' added Dr Bell.
The facility would be available to patients not just from the Okehampton area but right across the Mid Devon PCT area, which includes Cullompton and Tiverton. There have also been initial discussions to see if the service could be offered in the Tavistock area in the future.
The doctors behind the clinic are currently recruiting therapists and would be interested in hearing from anyone locally with at least five years' expertise as a practitioner in the chosen therapies, which include homeopathy, neuro-linguistic programming, herbalism, naturopathy and acupuncture.
Dr Bell said a meeting would be held for therapists interested in finding out more about how the project will work.