There is no statutory regulation of acupuncture in the UK.

Latest measures decided in Parliament:

The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley): 16 February 2011

“The practice of acupuncture is not affected by the EU Directive and, therefore, compliance is not required. I am confident that acupuncturists have their own voluntary regulatory measures in place, which are sufficiently robust. Additionally, local authorities in England have powers to regulate the hygiene of the practice of acupuncture, to protect against the risk of transmission of certain infectious diseases. Similar measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I am pleased to say that this decision marks a significant milestone. “

All accreditation at present is done by non-statutory, independent bodies such as:

The British Acupuncture Council
The Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The British Medical Acupuncture Association

Each of these bodies sets standards for its own accredited acupuncture courses. Maria Mercati's Bodyharmonics acupuncture courses are accredited by:

Acupuncture-Acutherapy Council

Her acupuncture courses are examined by Danny Van Laethem who is a principal lecturer in the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the University in Antwerp. He requires the high standards comparable with those of university students with whom he is involved in Belgium

I have completed 3 years of training in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture and Massage at the Bodyharmonics Center in Cheltenham under Maria Mercati ( www.bodyharmonics.co.uk ) and part of my clinical experience was done at Shandong University Hospital in Jinan, China.

Maria Mercati is a council member for the UK at the World Federation of Chinese Medicine (WFCM) and was a founding member of EURO-TCM (European Colleges of Traditional Chinese Medicine).

The training I have undertaken includes Tui Na (Chinese osteopathy), which is a unique and powerful approach, achieving far better results in a shorter time scale in the treatment of back pain, then you would expect from pure acupuncture treatments as practiced by members of the British Acupuncture Council, or from medical professionals that have undergone a 2 to 5 day course of Western medical trigger point acupuncture for pain relief.

I strive to ensure an excellence in the quality of my work and to maintain a professional and trustworthy therapist-client relationship.