ABOUT WNMS

History
In 1995 a small number of nutritional medicine practitioners who had trained with the Plaskett Nutritional Medicine College met in London to discuss the formation of a professional society to represent and promote the interests of naturopathically trained nutritional therapists which was not then being met by any other organisation.

The aims identified in forming the association were:

The first committee was formed and regular meetings were held in London. The constitution and the code of conduct were put together and the official launch took place.

In parallel with these events the Nutritional Therapy Council (NTC) was forming. WNMS members were invited to one of its first meetings from which a steering group was set up to help with the process of developing a voluntary regulatory body for the profession of nutritional therapy. Over the following 7 to 8 years a small number of dedicated people from organisations within the field, including WNMS, the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT), the Register of Nutritional Therapists (RNT), Unique Education, the training bodies themselves and the NTC, accomplished much good work in this area. The Foundation for Integrated Health supported this process both practically and financially.

WNMS also helped with the initial draft of the generic National Occupational Standards (NOS) which related to many different complementary and alternative health disciplines with Healthwork UK (now Skills for Health). This generic document was then taken forward by the NTC to develop National Occupational Standards for Nutritional Therapy.
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WNMS Activities
*The WNMS has held a number of seminars in the past most of which related to the field of Nutritional Medicine. We hope to be doing the same in the future. Suggestions for topics are always welcome.

*The WNMS has supported the work of the Nutritional Therapy Council. The WNMS continues through newsletters to inform members of developments in regulatory affairs.

*Professional indemnity insurance for WNMS members was arranged with Holistic Insurance Services.

*WNMS deals with many enquiries from members of the public, present and prospective members. The majority of these are about finding a practitioner, training courses, becoming a member of the Society and the Grand Parenting process for entry to the NTC (and eventually the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) register of practitioners. With the launch of the website WNMS intends to devote more time to CPD activities to maintain and develop members' skills.