NHS hospitals spent a fortune on “quack” therapies such as reiki and foot massages last year.
Figures from 20 trusts show they forked out for questionable treatments for more than 3,000 patients.
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Treatments also including acupuncture and aromatherapy cost a total of £269,000.
If the figure is applied across all 120-plus trusts the true cost could be well over £1.5million.
The NHS says it will not pay for alternative treatments in most cases.
Evidence they work is hit and miss.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals spent the most, at £170,000.
The Government has warned the NHS to tighten its belt.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance, which did the analysis, said: “With long waiting lists, quack remedies cannot be allowed to divert precious resources.”
Alternative medicine expert Dr Edzard Ernst said: “The NHS often uses complementary medicine rarely based on good evidence but on lobbying of proponents of quackery.”
The NHS said treatments are based “on robust clinical evidence” and are value for money.
