Background

The group was formed following a study day at St Mary’s Community Centre, Sheffield in January 2009.

The event was called Integrating Complementary Therapies in Supportive and Palliative Care. It was put on by the Complementary Therapies sub group of the Sheffield Supportive and Palliative Care Committee, supported by the Sheffield Project for Education in Cancer Care and the Sheffield Cancer Services Advisory Group (the voice of cancer patients in Sheffield).

Over 60 people attended the day including nurses from the hospitals and the community, radiotherapists, palliative care specialists, cancer patients and their carers and range of complementary therapists. Speakers and presenters included Professor Malcolm Read from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield, Sheila Smith from the Complementary Therapies Sub group, Philippa Hughes from the Cavendish Centre, John Hughes, a complementary therapist specialist nurse from Gwynedd and Ian Sykes, giving the patient point of view.

The day also included discussions, concluding that the interest in complementary therapies was growing and there was a need for further opportunities for mainstream healthcare workers and complementary practitioners to come together.

The complementary therapists involved wanted to build on the success of the day by forming a group that would continue to work towards integration and mutual understanding. They wanted to raise awareness of the benefits of complementary therapies and spread their use beyond cancer and palliative care to all patients. That is how ICTISA was conceived.