The New Year has arrived and with it, new resolutions. My new year's resolution is to try "to be the change I hope to see in the world".
I worked for many years in the NHS because I passionately believe in free health care for all and "from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs". As I developed my skills as a therapist, I learned from the patients I saw every day, that people have different needs and not everyone has a problem that can be addressed within the time resources available to an overstretched NHS. This can be particularly the case for those people with chronic pain or other long-term conditions.
Rightly or wrongly it appeared to me that there was a great deal of talk about being 'patient centred' and about service quality but the real focus seemed to be on meeting targets and crunching numbers.
I left the NHS and moved into private practice as I no longer felt able to properly serve the people I was supposed to be helping in the time allowed to me. However, I have always struggled with the fact that, as a private practitioner, I had to charge fees that were out of reach of many people due to the overheads involved in working in a private clinic. Now that I am returning to clinical practice, I feel that I must work in a way that makes my diverse skills more accessible to anyone who may benefit from them. The combination of treatments I offer can help with a wide range of ailments and, in my opinion, should be available to all who need them. As a result I have restructured my fees to reflect this. From now on, I am offering my services on a payment by donation basis. However I would require a minimum donation of £30 per session (usually lasting about one hour not including travelling time) in order to cover my travel expenses, car-related costs etc. The usual cost for a home visit would be between £50 - £70. I would also be happy to discuss bartering as a method of exchange.
I have to make a living from working as a therapist so if people are waged or otherwise financially able to offer more than the minimum I would be very grateful, but if they are not, I do not see why they should be excluded from being helped to achieve a better state of health and well-being.
I worked for many years in the NHS because I passionately believe in free health care for all and "from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs". As I developed my skills as a therapist, I learned from the patients I saw every day, that people have different needs and not everyone has a problem that can be addressed within the time resources available to an overstretched NHS. This can be particularly the case for those people with chronic pain or other long-term conditions.
Rightly or wrongly it appeared to me that there was a great deal of talk about being 'patient centred' and about service quality but the real focus seemed to be on meeting targets and crunching numbers.
I left the NHS and moved into private practice as I no longer felt able to properly serve the people I was supposed to be helping in the time allowed to me. However, I have always struggled with the fact that, as a private practitioner, I had to charge fees that were out of reach of many people due to the overheads involved in working in a private clinic. Now that I am returning to clinical practice, I feel that I must work in a way that makes my diverse skills more accessible to anyone who may benefit from them. The combination of treatments I offer can help with a wide range of ailments and, in my opinion, should be available to all who need them. As a result I have restructured my fees to reflect this. From now on, I am offering my services on a payment by donation basis. However I would require a minimum donation of £30 per session (usually lasting about one hour not including travelling time) in order to cover my travel expenses, car-related costs etc. The usual cost for a home visit would be between £50 - £70. I would also be happy to discuss bartering as a method of exchange.
I have to make a living from working as a therapist so if people are waged or otherwise financially able to offer more than the minimum I would be very grateful, but if they are not, I do not see why they should be excluded from being helped to achieve a better state of health and well-being.
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