Taking a complaint to the next level.

[CarolH]

I have recently complained to the General Chiropractic council about a therapist who didn't treat me very well.

She made me bleed when she stuck acupuncture needles in.
She left me alone and over my allotted time while she was gossiping to someone.
She left me on an uncomfortable couch and gave me an emergency buzzer that didn't work.
She didn't know how to adjust her therapy table to make me more comfortable.
She hurt my back so much that I was in pain for 2 days afterwards.

I have made a sworn statement to the Chiropractic Council and the therapist has denied it all - making it sound as though I made it up.

What I want to know is:
If the Chiropractic council believer her rather than me and she gets away with it - do I have any legal rights to claim against her in court?

[diy]

Sorry to here about your experience. You can claim for negligence against anyone who owes you a duty of care (such as in this case) if you can prove that the conduct was negligent and you have suffered as a result. The governing body is a good start as they should properly investigate, and if they find in your favour, it would make a claim easier. You may be one of many complainants which they might be aware of. In parallel you might want to talk to a no-win no fee medical negligence law firm. It really depends on what can be proved and if the treatment you describe is negligent.

I've had a fair bit of acupuncture and osteopathy myself for a back injury and sometimes the needles do make you bruise and occasionally bleed. Occasionally I've found the manipulation a bit rough, its really about how they diagnose and test your problem, to ensure the treatment is low risk and doesn't make things worse. For example testing reflexes etc to determine risk the nerves. There will be a code of conduct, defining best practices for treatment and the professional body may be able to provide this. You can then verify your treatment against that code to identify deviation and therefore potential negligence.

[3.14]

Also, you may find that acupuncture has been found (proven) to have no better success rate than a placebo.

[atticus]

Isn't chiropractic therapy a big con?

[Hairyloon]

I believe it can help with back trouble.
Conversely, I have found a practice which seems quite implausible actually worked really well.

[diy]

There are some respected studies that say it can help back pain relief - you'll also find plenty of private medical companies will reimburse you for such therapies, so long as the practitioner is registered. I personally found exercise, pilates, stretching etc far more effective.

[dls]

It may be a little odd complaining to the chiropractic council about a treatment which is outside her chiropractic practice.

[diy]

Its often combined. Would it not depend on what services the OP had booked?

[atticus]

The question is whether this quack is regulated by this body.

[dls]

I was thinking that this practitioner may be regulated in her chiropractic activities, but activities outside that regulated activity are not, and acupuncture does not obviously fall within its scope.

If a solicitor worked part time as a solicitor, and part time as a dentist, you would not complain to the legal regulator about a broken tooth.