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Welcome to the website of the General Naturopathic Council
What is the General Naturopathic Council's (GNC) role?
The aim of the General Naturopathic Council is to regulate and support naturopathic practitioners in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the public. Prevention is better than cure!
As more and more people choose natural healthcare practitioners alongside conventional medical treatments, the public and medical professions are becoming more interested in the safe practice and efficacy of complementary therapies.
In conjunction with Skills for Health, the GNC has developed National Occupational Standards for Naturopaths.
Are you thinking of undertaking a new training course?
The General Naturopathic Council (GNC) is alarmed at the number of courses available throughout the complementary therapy profession that may leave graduates without the qualification they expected. Before you enrol on any course, ask questions such as what accreditation is there for the course, and if you’re told a professional body has given accreditation, we’d suggest you also contact that body, and again ask relevant questions. We know of one course where its website says it has been approved by a certain association but that approval is no longer valid.
Be wary of courses where there are no direct contact hours. Webinars and e-learning aren’t the same as direct contact. Major insurance companies won’t provide cover for such courses. Balens tell us: “We always advise our clients that we do not cover courses that are purely distance learning and if their course included any practical hours or if they went on to take a practical course, we ask for details and how they were deemed competent to practice. We check these on a case by case basis.” DSC-Strand say: “From an insurance perspective underwriters regard all complementary therapies as a practical skill. In view of this it is a requirement that insurance applicants can demonstrate that their training undertaken includes mandatory practical elements to the course involving face to face interaction with a course tutor, as well as the theoretical elements.”
Who belongs to the GNC?
Several organizations and colleges following Naturopathic philosophy are members, embarking upon the route to profession-led regulation; their details can be found on the 'Members' page of this website.
What are the major aims of the GNC?
- To protect the public from poorly trained practitioners
- To ensure professional standards and fitness to practice
- To establish, maintain and enhance the standard of naturopathic education via a system of accreditation of courses in naturopathy
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