NHS rising waiting times prompts shift to holistic healthcare

 

As NHS waiting times rise, Jodine Samuels meets holistic practitioners about their experiences with the British population who have turned to their treatments.

When Vanessa’s husband nearly died in a car accident and was left in a debilitated state, she was left to be his carer for almost 10 years.

From this, she began her endeavour into the world of nutrition as a means to nurse him back to health. 

As the waiting times in modern healthcare continually grow, the UK’s population turning to holistic methods of healthcare also grows. 

Data shows that over the last five years, the amount of people waiting to start treatment on the NHS has almost doubled. 

This leads to people looking for other ways to receive treatment. 

This shift shows the need for health services to reform and reevaluate our approach to health and well -being.

Vanessa Brown, who is a master living and nutrition practitioner, offers holistic alternatives to pharmaceuticals. 

She says, “Living nutrition brings nutrition to life, it gives the conscious decision to make more natural healthier decisions, such as what they are going to eat.

“I would ask them to track their meals, what they have, and from there I would give them a meal plan in order to cut out the more sugary and salty foods.

“I will follow with a consultation process to make sure that everything I do is in line with what they need.

“I found quite a number of clients that have cancer have found a lot of benefit from introducing some natural remedies. 

“Obviously they have to be guided by their oncologists in order to make sure their getting the right treatment from that side of things.”

During the growing waiting times in the UK it is more difficult for people to get treated Brown says, “I just feel that in order to give people the best possible treatment, the earlier the better.

“Early intervention is everything because when it is something serious I think this is where I find a lot more clients coming my way, they are coming to me with diabetes, cancer and autoimmune disease which is rife. 

“These are the sorts of things that if the medication you get from the doctor isn’t helping or you’ve been put on a waiting list, they will come to me and become more confident in what I recommend.

“I think it’s a shame that there is a waiting list because early intervention is key.”

For Vanessa Brown, the waiting times becoming a barrier to helping treat people in her personal life was the catalyst for entering a holistic career. 

She says, “For me, my husband almost died from a car accident and I literally was his carer for nearly ten years.

 “To see him in such a debilitated state really pushed me, that was my motivation to get the best care for him.

 “When I saw the state of the waiting list at that time I thought I’ve got to do something and he needed the help straight away. 

“I did an initial nutrition diploma then I moved on to do more research to find out ways I could help to build his bones because he had lots of broken bones. 

“I found out about the Sinica which is bamboo extract basically and it helps to build the bones and other calcium-enriched vegetables to build into the diet obviously finding out about the plant-based diet was amazing and a game changer for us all really.

“My husband had a really bad diagnosis that he would be in a wheelchair but actually he is fighting fit, stronger than ever just by the few lifestyle changes.

“He is now fully recovered and that has really spurred me on to do more, to research more to continue to follow the more holistic approach more natural approach to living diet in our lifestyles as a whole.”

In a BBC report Prof Sir Stephen Powis, an NHS national medical director, said: “it is clear from today’s figures that NHS staff are working incredibly hard to deliver patients with 10% more patients coming off the waiting list in August than the same month before the pandemic.” 

The benefits of privatised healthcare outside of the NHS and the confines of their waiting times are also shown through practitioner Colin Simms. 

He is an award-winning Best Male Therapist of Colour 2017, and a holistic practitioner and complementary therapist. 

His skill set separates him from the NHS practitioners as there is the element of fast pain relief.

The 62-year-old says, “What I provide as an individual within the country, within Wolverhampton is a therapy called the Rossiter system of stretches. 

“This particular therapy deals with the head-to-toe network of muscles, connective tissues, ligaments and tendons so it’s a fast pain relief therapy. 

“The response of healing is cut down shorter than a chiropractor or a physiotherapist, so I provide a quicker relief.”

There are a number of people who look at holistic methods of healthcare as something to be weary of which generates a growth in scepticism within the field. 

The testimonials received from practitioners’ clients become standalone evidence of the quality of the services provided. 

Colin Simms says, “The evidence is the client testimonials. 

“Clients have come to me saying they have been having chiropractic treatments, or they’ve been having physiotherapy treatments for months, years some of them.

 “Some of them have given up because far as they are aware chiropractors and physiotherapists are the only ones who really specialise in getting people out of pain and returning them back to some sort of normality.

“When they come to me they are totally surprised at the speed they have returned to health and normality

“There’s different modalities of treatments, it is just that I specialise in this particular treatment which is not unique to England but there is about 162 practitioners in the country and obviously we are highly sought after because of what we can do.” 

He went on to say “What I have learned is that knowledge is power. 

“When I show people pictorially how the body works, they understand. 

“So, I am educating people once you educate them, they understand.”