Marjorie, 90, to fight on over arthritis treatment (From Bournemouth Echo)

Marjorie, 90, to fight on over arthritis treatment

7:00pm Tuesday 4th November 2008 in

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AN elderly Bournemouth woman has pledged to fight on after losing her appeal to continue having homeopathy treatment funded by the National Health Service.

Marjorie Titchen, 90, was having the treatment for osteoarthritis for 10 years until NHS Bournemouth and Poole decided it would no longer foot the bill.

Mrs Titchen, who runs the dog-friendly White Topps guest house in Southbourne, says the treatment has enabled her to stay active and continue working without having to resort to strong painkilling drugs.

Her practitioner, Dr Robert Jacobs of Verwood, who switched from traditional medicine after seeing the results of complementary treatment, has pointed out that the money Mrs Titchen has saved the NHS on drugs would probably cover the cost of the homeopathy.

But the primary care trust says its current policy is that it will only support access to complementary therapies for certain conditions, which do not include osteoarthritis.

It will also not routinely consider individual requests for treatment by independent sector providers with whom it does not have a contract.

Mrs Titchen has now raised the matter with NHS South West and Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood.

She told the Daily Echo: “I have letters from my GP to say that as I haven’t had any treatment since January, I have deteriorated. It’s more painful to walk.

“I’m selfish – I want this for myself – but a lot of people I know would love to have this kind of treatment. If the effect is only in the mind, the mind is a very powerful thing.”

Homeopathy is based on the principle of treating like with like, using very dilute solutions to stimulate the body’s natural defences. Critics say there is no scientific evidence that it has anything more than a placebo effect.