Other Health Professionals
This unit group covers Health Professionals not elsewhere classified. It includes Acupuncturists, Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Naturopaths.
A Wednesday in a small health clinic
You are a registered practitioner of complementary medicine, running your own small clinic with four clients booked today. It is 9am. You have a full day of appointments, and the day has already started with a phone call from someone who wants a miracle by Friday.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I've got a bad cough that's lasted about a month, and I've been told you can fix it with herbs. I don't want to see a doctor. I just want the herbs. When can you start?
Book her in and plan a herbal course, because that's what she is asking for and she is keen to start
She turns up with the same cough, now six weeks old. A cough that long should be looked at by a doctor first, and the delay has not helped her.
Book her in, but ask her to see her GP about the cough as well
She grumbles, then agrees. The doctor finds something worth checking, and she returns to you with her results. Knowing your limits is part of being trusted.
Tell her you cannot help with coughs, wish her well and hang up
You stay safe, but she is left with no direction and feels brushed off. She tries something she found online instead.
My friend says you can fix anything with the right plan. Can you put on your website that you cure my condition? I've told everyone, and I'd like to give you a good review.
Say thanks and agree, because a good review is good for business
A claim that you cure a condition can break advertising rules and mislead other people. A kind review does not make an unsupported promise safe.
Thank him, and say you would prefer the review to describe how he feels, not a cure
Dale writes about feeling more rested and supported, and the review reads as honest. Clients trust a practitioner who does not overpromise.
Ask him not to write a review at all, to keep things simple
You avoid the problem, but you also lose an honest story told in his own words. A better move was to guide the review, not to refuse it.
One of our shared clients mentioned you've given her a supplement. I'm happy to work together, but I need to know what you gave her, because it could interact with what I prescribed.
Send the full file to the GP right away, because the interaction might be urgent
The GP gets what he needs, but you have shared private information without asking. The client is upset, and her trust in you is dented.
Tell him that client records are private and that you cannot share anything with other practitioners
Privacy matters, but you did not ask the client first. The GP is left worried, and the client later wishes you had checked with her.
Ask the client for consent, then send the GP a list of what you gave her
The client says yes straight away, and the GP is able to check the combination. She feels safer with two professionals talking. Consent is the key to sharing information.
How it went
By evening, one client has a GP appointment, one has an honest review and the GP is in the loop. Practitioners in this field combine care, listening and honesty about limits, and many also run a small business. Where would you draw the line between support and promise?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The client who wanted to stop her medicine
A fictional case set in a small complementary health clinic in a fictional regional town, with a quiet treatment room and a waiting area.
The situation
Mei Ling ran a small naturopathy clinic in a country town. A long-term client, Ruth, arrived excited after reading an online post about a natural cure for her blood pressure problem. She told Mei Ling she was planning to stop her prescribed tablets from her GP next week and wanted help with a herbal plan. Ruth trusted Mei Ling, and Mei Ling knew that saying the wrong thing could either lose her trust or hurt her health.
What they did
Mei Ling listened first and asked what Ruth hoped for. She said honestly that she was not able to advise on stopping prescribed medicine, and that this decision belonged with Ruth's GP. She offered to help Ruth write down her questions and to share what she was already doing with her doctor, with her permission. She also made it clear she would still support the healthy changes Ruth was keen on.
How it turned out
Ruth was disappointed but saw that Mei Ling cared. She saw her GP with a list of questions, kept taking her tablets and chose a few diet changes alongside. The GP appreciated knowing what Ruth was using. Mei Ling kept a note in her file to always ask about other treatments at every visit.
What would you do?
- Where do you think the edge of a practitioner's knowledge should be?
- How would you stay respectful when a client's hopes and the evidence do not match?
- Why might working alongside a client's doctor be a sign of strength?