#AcupunctureAwarenessWeek2023
At the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), we put our members at the heart of everything we do. This Awareness Week and supporting broadcast campaign have been organised in response to our members’ feedback. BAcC members felt more could be done in terms of external PR and communications, so we hope we’ve done them justice with all that’s been happening this week, with more to come in the future.
For those of you out there who may once have been a BAcC Member, or are currently considering which organisation to join, please know this …The British Acupuncture Council is the UK’s largest, member-led, professional body for traditional acupuncturists. Our PSA accreditation recognises the exceptionally high standards of our members who are very proud of the high standards and codes to which they adhere.
From student to full member
We can offer support to you wherever you are in your acupuncture journey and we work closely with the BAAB accredited course providers, presenting to students – future generations of acupuncturists – about the benefits of BAcC membership.
Perhaps you’ve had a break from practice and are keen to return? There is a straightforward re-application process regardless of when you stepped away.
Maybe you’ve qualified through another institution or through an overseas programme? We are currently developing an admissions route for this, so let us know of your interest and we can send you details once it is live.
We work hard to provide our members with the support they need, including useful resources, to help members deliver best practice and to run a business, one of our key strategic aims.
The bigger picture
The BAcC’s role is to support its members by:
- Expanding awareness of traditional acupuncture and how it works
- Representing the interests of fully qualified traditional acupuncturists
- Establishing and maintaining the highest professional standards of practice for acupuncture in the UK
- Overseeing and accrediting acupuncture education to ensure excellence in training
- Funding evidence-based clinical research on the benefits of traditional acupuncture
- Promoting evidence-based research to the public, the media and other healthcare providers
- Promoting integrated healthcare and contributing to the development of national healthcare policy.
Additional benefits
The benefits of BAcC membership are wide ranging – we offer a number of products and services to our members.
PSA accreditation and our PSA online register – The BAcC was one of the first organisations to become a PSA Accredited Register. The Accredited Register scheme is designed to recognise that an accredited organisation maintains high standards of training, safe practice and professional conduct where the operational sector is not covered by statutory regulation. This is one of the most significant benefits of BAcC membership, as both a sign of recognition of the standards our members work to and for promotion of an individual’s practice. GPs are able to refer patients to BAcC acupuncturists, which is unique to our members as acupuncture practitioners. Additionally, NHS websites link to the PSA website, signposting our members and their services.
Members of the public, patients and other practitioners all see the value of this status. We have developed an online ‘Find an acupuncturist’ tool that is greatly used.
Safe practice – Our Code of Safe Practice defines the standards for the safe and hygienic practice of acupuncture. This Code is designed to protect both practitioner and public alike, and reflects the BAcC’s primary aim of ensuring the safety of the general public. We also publish a Guide to Safe Practice for Acupuncture that provides comprehensive and detailed guidance on the many aspects of running an acupuncture practice. This support is supplemented by an in-house Safe Practice Manager, further documentation, supplier links, a legal advice helpline, and of course professional insurance.
News and promotional support – We provide regular updates to members on developments in the profession and on other products and services, such as events and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities. Members also have access to newsletter and magazine archives. We supply information and materials for setting up in practice, together with marketing materials, and we run periodic campaigns to help inform members. Recent focus areas have included fertility, long-Covid, chronic pain, anxiety, and boundaries & consent. We are currently delivering a campaign on Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Lobbying and research – We continue to lobby government and other stakeholders on recognition of the profession. We have established a Professional Recognition Working Group to continue this work. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we successfully advocated for our members with local councils to ensure practices were able to remain open, as appropriate. Research activity is continuous and we support members in this area with a wide array of resources, including an annual research symposium.
Community
Community is very important to us and we know our members value the interactions they have with like-minded practitioners. As well as coming together for our annual BAcC conference and research symposium, our regional groups also provide opportunities for networking, workshops and socialising.
We offer regular webinars and events, as well as bi-annual ‘Town Hall’ meetings, where members are welcome to attend to hear the latest topical updates from the BAcC.
Our mentoring-supervision register is another fantastic source of support, made up of members who have been fully trained as a mentor-supervisor and vetted though our application process. They offer members a safe space to talk confidently through any worries or concerns, be it difficulties with patients or finding new avenues of promotion to drive business.
The BAcC continues to work with stakeholder organisations and healthcare charities in order to play an active part in something bigger, working together to improve the profile of members and the profession.
Fit for the future – transformation of our systems
We launched our new website in August last year, supported by our new integrated CiviCRM member database. This was just the beginning of our journey to develop our product and services delivery to members. We now continue to evolve our back-end systems, establishing foundations for the future.
If you’d like to know more about becoming a BAcC member, please contact: membership@acupuncture.org.uk.
Acupuncture Awareness Week 2023
March 2023
