The Board

The Board is a not-for-profit company focusing on acupuncture education in the UK, and formally constituted through the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company. It meets three times a year to discuss policy issues, receive reports and to make accreditation decisions. Key to its integrity and accountability for establishing and maintaining standards of acupuncture education is the nature of its membership.

This comprises of:

An independent Chair

  • A person who is not an acupuncturist and has no other association with acupuncture.

Non acupuncturist members

  • 2 educationalists, with experience of higher and professional education, with a particular remit to bring their educational expertise to the debate and decision making
  • 1 representative of the public interest, with a particular remit to ensure that issues of public concern about standards of training in acupuncture are kept to the forefront of Board discussion and decision making
  • 2 non-acupuncture healthcare professionals, to contribute a western medical perspective to discussions about the content and standards of the courses and to contribute a broader complementary medicine perspective 

Acupuncturist members

  • 3 representatives of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), to contribute a professional acupuncture perspective and to ensure that issues in common between the BAAB and the BAcC are discussed, and that policies and processes are congruent
  • 2 representatives of the Council of Heads of Acupuncture Courses (CHAC), to contribute a professional acupuncture education perspective and to ensure that developing Board policies and issues of concern to teaching institutions are fully debated

The Board is also attended by the officers of the Board, invited attendees such as the CEO or Chair of the BAcC and the Board's Consultant Advisor, and observers from teaching institutions – who are excluded from the closed agenda.

All members of the Board and Accreditation Committee, Officers, attendees and others involved in Board work are bound by the Board's Code of Conduct

Board meetings

The Board meets three times a year, the first half of the meeting is about policy issues and is open to observers. In the second half of the meeting the Board considers confidential reports about teaching institutions. This is closed to observers.

The Board considers all reports and recommendations from the Accreditation Committee (AC) and ratifies, challenges, amends or overturns initial AC recommendation on accreditation.

The Board initiates and follows through discussions on policies to do with educational standards, the accreditation processes, its own internal processes, national reports on professional regulation and the future for acupuncture regulation.

 

The Board

Professor Raymond Playford (Chair)
Professor Raymond Playford FRCP, FRCPath, FAcadMedSci, FRSA, PhD, DSc is the Chair of the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board.

Raymond is a clinician scientist holding roles as Professor of Molecular Medicine at University West London, adjunct Professor at University College Cork, visiting Consultant Gastroenterologist at St Georges NHS Trust, London, Chairman of the Herbal Medicine Advisory Committee of the MHRA, and membership of Policy & Education Committee of the General Osteopathy Council.

He received a medical degree from St Bartholomew’s Medical School London and obtained both a PhD and a DSC. He has an interest in good governance and quality control for health-related educational provision with extensive senior management experience in HEIs, includes previously being Deputy Vice Chancellor/Vice Principal at Plymouth University and at Queen Mary, University of London. He is past President of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland and has served in executive and non-executive roles for several companies in the US and UK.

Raymond supports a holistic approach to healthcare issues and has published over 150 original scientific and clinical papers. He has received several awards for his research including the British Society of Gastroenterology Sir Francis Avery Jones Research medal.

   
Jasmine Uddin (Vice Chair, BAcC representative)
Jasmine-Uddin2 Jasmine Uddin is a past president and chair of the British Acupuncture Council and is now its president emeritus. She is currently an education consultant to the BAcC and vice chair of the BAAB as well as being editor of the European Journal of Oriental Medicine. After being its president for many years, Jasmine now leads the Education Committee of the European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, which aims to foster high standards of education and practice across Europe. She has an acupuncture practice in Brighton.

   
Janice Booth (BAcC representative) 
janiceboard

Janice Booth supports the BAcC’s Admissions committee in interviewing potential new members. She qualified as an acupuncturist at CTA in 1988, undertook the Integrated TCM/5 Element course with J. and A. Hicks in 1990 and has had a practice in Swindon for the last 27 years. She is a senior lecturer and the programme leader for Chinese Medicine Theory at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading.

   
Dan Tan (Educationalist) 
DTan

Dr Dan Tan is a passionate and conscientious academic professional with extensive clinical practice and teaching experience within the Higher Education sector, mainly in the UK and China. Dan spent 15 years at Middlesex University, latterly as a Course Leader for MSc/BSc Acupuncture, and over 3 years at London South Bank University. Currently Dan oversees the quality assurance and enhancement aspects of a TCM school in Amsterdam and is the Chief External Examiner for BSc Acupuncture programme at the University of Westminster. Before moving to the UK, Dan qualified as a TCM Doctor in her native China and worked at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM). She has studied both Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine and holds PhD, Masters and bachelor’s qualifications.

   
Barbara Ross (Public representative) 
Barbara Ross

Barbara is a nurse by profession and has held nursing and management positions in a variety of NHS organisations, including Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive of an NHS Trust.  In this capacity Barbara had particular responsibility for promoting safe clinical practice and working on the clinical governance strategy.

Since retiring from the NHS Barbara worked within the NHS as a consultant to support general management projects and the training and development of NHS staff.

Barbara Ross is a trustee of Action against Medical Accidents AvMA.   AvMA is a national charity which supports patient safety and justice.  She is also treasurer of the Clinical Disputes forum and an area visitor for the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund.

   
Dr Mike Cummings (Medical representative) 
Mike-2014 Dr Mike Cummings is the Medical Director of the British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS), and a former medical officer in the Royal Air Force. He was awarded his degree in medicine from Leeds University in 1987. He is an Honorary Clinical Specialist at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. His principal academic and clinical interest is musculoskeletal pain, and in particular, needling therapies in the treatment of myofascial pain syndromes
   
Zofia Dymitr (Complementary Health representative) 
ZD photo head shoulders Zofia Dymitr is a practising homeopath registered with the Society of Homeopaths. She has an MSc in Integrated Healthcare, and a Diploma in Supervision, offering supervision to homeopathy students and other health professionals. Zofia has contributed to the development of the homeopathy profession over twenty-six years in a range of roles including Chair of the Society of Homeopaths. She is also Vice Chair of the European Central Council of Homeopaths with a special interest in promoting the development of high standards in the patient interest.

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