Community acupuncture is part of a movement towards a healthier society, a movement towards social equality and a movement towards medical integration. We believe that acupuncture can help, not only your health but also the community’s health, by helping us to come together and address health in general. And, importantly, Community acupuncture allows high quality treatment at an affordable price. We are proud to be a member of the Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics (ACMAC).
Multi Bed:
Community acupuncture works on a multi bed system. By this we mean that your acupuncturist will be looking after more than one person at a time. This is not a new idea, visit any hospital and most clinics through the world and the multi bed system is what you will experience. After all, health care would be extremely expensive if you had to pay for every minute of your doctor’s time, as she or he sat by your bed giving you their undivided attention while you both waited for an antibiotic to work!
The multi bed style is a system perfectly suited to acupuncture, because acupuncture requires a reasonably short period of time with a clinician followed by a longer period whilst you relax with the needles in, allowing them to do their work. In the multi bed treatment model, while you relax the next person receives the one-to-one attention of your acupuncturist. This continues with 20 minute consultations until it is time for your treatment to come to an end. At this point your acupuncturist will return to complete the treatment. This efficient use of your clinician’s time means that the cost of your treatment can be divided by the number of people receiving treatment, meaning you pay less.
Communal setting:
At Source Point we choose to treat in one big room. The room has a reception area where the free drop-in ear acupuncture happens and where people wait for the full body treatment. There are a series of treatment couches with screens to provide privacy. Your acupuncturist moves from bed to bed treating and checking that everybody has what they need.
The communal setting offers a variety of advantages:
- You are never left alone with the needles in.
- There is always at least one clinician only a few feet away in case you need something, such as an extra blanket if you feel cold.
- There is a strong sense of support from the other patients.
- Group treatment creates an atmosphere that amplifies the healing process.
Individual Consultations:
While we are advocates for communal treatment and believe it to be a highly effective and beneficial way of treating – not to mention how economically sensible it is – we also recognise the need for privacy. Due to this, your first session will take place in our private consulting room. This room is also available if you wish to have a chat about something personal which you don’t wish to discus in the main clinic room.
Regularity of treatment:
Low treatment cost due to a group setting has a variety of clinical advantages including support from other patients, being open about your health concerns and regularity of treatment. One of the biggest difficulties with private medicine is that when more regular treatment is required it can be a financial strain for the patient. For certain conditions acupuncture treatment works best if it can be received on a regular basis. For acute pain this may even be up to 2 or 3 times per week. The beauty of the community acupuncture model and sliding scale payment system is that if you need to come in 3 times in a week you can adjust you payment level down so that it is still accessible. As you can see there is a lot of flexibility.