Chamber and committees

Question reference: S5W-35775

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 5 March 2021
Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 March 2021

Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to allow acupuncture therapy clinics to reopen, in light of the support that they can provide to the NHS in treating people with conditions such as long-COVID.

Answer

Under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, as amended - close contact services, including Complementary and Alternative Medicine Services (CAMS) - which includes acupuncture - generally must not operate in Level 4 areas at this time.

The only close contact services which may operate in Level 4 areas at this time are sports massage provided to professional sportspersons, osteopathy and chiropractic services, and “other services or procedures which require physical contact or close physical proximity between a provider and a customer” and are “ancillary to medical, health, or social care services”. Close contact services (excluding mobile close contact service) may operate in Level 3 areas. Mobile close contact services may operate in Level 1 areas.

Our Strategic Framework sets out how we plan to restore, in a phased way, greater normality to our everyday lives.

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