The consultation, which is UK-wide, could result in the statutory regulation of all three professions, with practitioners required to obtained accredited qualifications and meet a set of standards. Under the proposals, all three professions would, if regulated, be regulated by the same regulatory body.

The consultation was sparked by the potential risks to patients of unregulated practitioners, according to health minister Ann Keen. She said: ‘Patient safety is paramount.’ ‘This UK-wide consultation will help us find the best and most appropriate ways of ensuring that those who choose to receive acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine can be reassured that those practitioners meet professional standards of care and safety,’ she said.

Mike O’ Farrell, chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council and chair of the Chinese Medicine Working Group said the consultation was an ‘important step in ensuring that the public understand the professional standards needed to work in these therapies’.