The British Acupuncture Federation (BAF) has changed Government policy, lockdown guidelines and our legal position as practitioners. 

March 23rd 2020 First Lockdown

March 31st 2020 Practitioners back open for emergency and healthcare treatments.

April 2020 Gained an agreement in principle to remove the 4-month exclusion period for clients who wish to donate blood after having acupuncture.

May 2020 New Balens insurance launched with 40% discount.

June 2020 Permissions were gained to allow acupuncturists to carry out Covid testing and the leading test equipment made available.

June 2020 Public Health England carried out the only specialist review of any group specifically for BAF practitioners.

July 10th 2020 PHE negotiates that BAF should have been included with the healthcare professional’s permissions to return to full practice.

July 13th 2020 PHE confirms all BAF practitioners can fully open to the public.

July 15th 2020 BAF expands permissions to include all UK acupuncturists.

September 2020 Fought and removed the requirement for track and trace in clinics.

October 2020 GMC accepts BAF request and makes the NHS low risk 15 minute advisory into medical guidelines which is essential to allow acupuncturists to stay open in lockdown.

November 2020 Lockdown – BAF changed legislation and organised with PHE to have acupuncture for medical and healthcare reasons put into the Exemptions documentation in the November lockdown -item 47. This allowed ALL acupuncturists to return to work for medical and healthcare,

November 2020 Tui-Na added to our permissions and practitioners were able to offer Tui-Na treatments under lockdown.

December 2020 Permission gained for practitioners to stay open in tier 4 regions of the country.

December 2020 London licensing exemption was gained for all practitioners.

January 2021 Practitioners accepted in Tier 2 for early vaccine and letters provided for practitioners to give to the NHS.

January 2021 Practitioners accepted as key workers and so gained permission for their children to return to school.

January 2021 Lockdown – Practitioners have permission to open for healthcare treatments.

February 2021 Launched a totally new system for sharps disposal within the UK which we believe offers the cheapest commercial collection available.

February 2021 BAF partnered up with the Hawthorne project to collect and report on client treatments

May 2021 BAF gained expansion of London Licensing Exemption to include Auricular Acupuncture, Cosmetic Acupuncture, Tui-Na, Gua Sha, Cupping, Moxibustion, Herbal Medicine.

June 2021 BAF finalised a new partnership and discount for the Acu-Track system.

July 2021 Partnered with Clinisept and practitioners gained trade pricing.

July 2021 Partnered with SumUp for discounts on point of sale equipment and rates of 1.69%.

August 2021 Partnered with Sif Health client management software allowing practitioner discounts.

September 2021 Gained key worker acceptance for potential fuel restrictions.

October 2021 Supported practitioners against PSA decision to enforce ASA changes required to practitioners websites.

October 2021 Created a work group to challenge HM Customs and Excise on VAT for healthcare professionals.

November 2021 Released our V6 guidelines for reduction of restrictions following Government Guidelines.

December 2021 Released our V7 guidelines to help everyone stay open and safe during Plan B.

January 2022 Released our updated guidance on Adverse Affects.

January 2022 Released our V8 Guidelines for relaxing clinic restrictions to a minimum.

January 2022 Released the BAF Clinic Locator allowing the public to be able to find a practitioner from any of our organisations.

February 2022 Released Industry Standard Guidelines for treating patients under 18 years of age making this subjective area clear.

February 2022 Members insurance scheme was upgraded to offer temporary cover for treatments performed abroad (excluding the US and Canada).

March 2022 Released a Non Disclosure Agreement for clinic owners to use with staff and which protects their clients data and other intellectual property.

April 2022 Westfield insurance and Orchard Healthcare will now be accepting BAF members (They are updating their systems and policies currently).

April 2022 BAF networked directly with Public Health England to offer free Covid tests to its membership.

May 2022 Negotiated a 10% discount on all products from Scarborough’s Acupuncture Supplies.

June 2022 ‘April International’ now accept BAF practitioners for their healthcare insurance patients.

July 2022 BAF partnered with British National Formulary allowing you to use their app for free and look up medications and pharmacy prescriptions.

August 2022 BAF have partnered with Pharma Nord to provide discounted pharmaceutical grade supplements to members, free CPD training and attendance to optional training courses around the country.

We have much more in the pipeline, anticipating huge changes that will move the profession forward as a whole.

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