Karyse Day is hopeful that her dreams of having a complementary and alternative medicine clinic at Great Western Hospital could come true.

Karyse, of Chiseldon, who is a member of the Swindon Local Involvement Network (LINk) steering group, has been pushing for NHS Swindon to review their police towards complementary therapies which is currently deemed as ‘low priority’.

And her hard work seems to have paid off.

Karyse has been using complementary and alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, chiropractics, reiki and acupuncture, for the past 35 years, and says she has been successfully treated for a number of medical issues, from slipped discs in her back to suspicious moles on her face.

Last month, a small discussion group met with NHS Swindon to discuss the local policy on the NHS paying for complementary and alternative therapies.

In a letter from Dr Ayo Oyinloye, consultant in public health medicine, he states that NHS Swindon should explore commissioning homeopathy services. He thanked those people who took part in the workshop and shared their personal experiences of various complementary therapies.

“The evidence made up of case reports, surveys and websites provided by attendees on the clinical and cost effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine use will be assessed and used to inform the development of the clinical policy.

“NHS Swindon will use this evidence in conjunction with statutory documents and other scientific documents to develop NHS Swindon’s clinical policy,” he said.

“I will meet with Andrew Ward, a local provider of homeopathic services to explore how to take this forward.

“In summary, while we all agree that the current NHS Swindon policy of not funding any Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments is not sustainable on the long term; we also agree on the need to have limits on what NHS Swindon is able to commission.”

Karyse said the news was very exciting.

“I feel very optimistic that this will mean that Swindon residents will be able to replicate the truly amazing results that were obtained in Northern Ireland, when 713 patients were referred for either homeopathy, acupuncture or chiropractic.” she said.

“The ultimate cost efficiencies would be very substantial but the overall health and social benefits would be inestimable.

“It is very exciting, it could mean improved health for many people.”

“It is not about me, it is about the people of Swindon, I just happen to be the person bringing it to the forefront. There are a lot of people in Swindon who agree with me.”