Complementary therapy

Overview

The Royal Free Charity supports massage therapy to enhance the Royal Free London Trust’s care to its patients and staff. Always ‘the treat not the treatment’, massage is an addition, not an alternative, to medical care.

Research has proven that massage can reduce stress and anxiety; it can help people better cope with the illnesses and uncertainties they face and aid recovery time which may shorten the number of days a person needs to stay in hospital.  Patients and staff find comfort and support in the touch offered and in the mental space created.

Whether working with inpatients, outpatients or staff, the therapists focus on looking after the holistic care of the person, not a patient with a condition.

About the team

The complementary therapy service was started in 1992, as a voluntary massage service for referred cancer patients. Nickie Williamson became the complementary therapies service’s lead in 2019.  She has many years’ experience, within the NHS as a registered nurse, and in 2004 joined the Royal Free Hospital Foundation Trust as a volunteer massage therapist.

We have a mixture of part-time paid and voluntary massage therapists who cover all hospital sites including the Royal Free Hospital, Barnet, Edgware, Chase Farm and Edgware.

If you would like to donate to the massage to help expand our services to help reach more patients and support staff well-being.

Contact

Do you have an appointment?

Find your ward

  • The Royal Free Hospital

    Complementary Therapy Department

    2nd floor (access via Pond Street lifts/stairs)
    Royal Free Hospital
    Pond Street
    London NW3 2QG
    020 7794 0500  ext: 38927 
    Email:  rf-tr.complementarytherapy@nhs.net

Hospital locations

Referrals

Referral details

Arranging a massage treatment:

All referrals are completed by the multi-disciplinary team in your clinic

In-patients with any medical condition can be referred for treatment.  You will be given a gentle twenty-minute massage in the comfort of their own bed space. 

Out-patients undergoing chemotherapy, infusions and radiotherapy can also enjoy treatments by referral. 

Specialised clinics we offer a specialised scar therapy service accessible only by clinical referral, and a neuro-rehab therapy outpatient service, which can be accessed by referral from listed physiotherapy teams.

 

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