Get Well NI - a BBC documentary

It is widely held that N Ireland uses more prescription drugs than any other region of the UK. Whilst these drugs often alleviate patients’ symptoms, they can also be highly addictive and cause adverse side effects. Frequently patients end up having to swallow the spider to catch the fly, taking further drugs to counteract the side effects of the previous ones.

We're delighted to say that we have a different story to be told, one of patients who have received complementary therapies through the NHS and are now finding their health vastly improved. There is no argument about whether there is science to back it up, just deeply moving stories about people who are in ill health, who have tried the best of what western medicine has to offer them and have got increasingly ill. Then they were offered complementary therapies paid for by this government-backed pilot project. The results are, quite simply, amazing.

Get Well NI is an hour-long programme made by Tern TV looking at our one year pilot project which operated in two clinics in Northern Ireland until March 2008. The scheme allowed GPs to refer patients to complementary therapists with their treatment being paid for by the NHS. This brilliant story, from the patients' perspectives, illustrates what healthcare and democracy is all about.

The programme was broadcast on BBC1 Northern Ireland on 5 May 2008. 

• Click HERE to read some of the patient case studies from the N Ireland project
• Click HERE to read some of the practitioner case studies from the N Ireland project