Acupuncture For NHS Staff During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Unique Project

In the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, there was an explosion of community spirit, with all kinds of voluntary organisations springing up to help those in need. This was matched by an outpouring of affection for what may be Britain’s greatest treasure – the free-at-point-of-delivery National Health Service (NHS), whose staff we applauded from our doorsteps every Thursday night. We understood what strain they were under and how we now all depended on NHS staff more than ever – not only the doctors but also the underpaid and overworked nurses, cleaners, porters and other frontline staff. Inspired by these two phenomena, a group of acupuncturists in Brighton and Hove in the South of England decided to offer acupuncture to NHS workers, which became the ‘Acupuncture for NHS: Brighton & Hove’ project (see www.acu4nhs.co.uk for more details).

This article is an edited transcript of an interview between Peter Deadman (PD) and two founder practitioners of the project, Soreh Levy (SL) and Cara Beckinsale (CB).