Complementary therapy and traditional medicine have been uneasy bedfellows. Now the first complementary therapy centre based in a hospital is working to bridge the gap and, as Anne-Marie Brennan hopes, play a bigger paty in the NHS

On June 20 this year, the complementary therapy and research centre at Lewisham hospital, south London, celebrated an important milestone, its first birthday. Why is it so important? Because this is the first complementary therapy centre to work side by side and in conjunction with traditional NHS health care offered in a hospital setting.