Community Acupuncture Clinic in GP practice - reflections from the ground By Josephine Cerqua

I went back through WhatsApp to find my first message to Elen - 13 March 2023. Since then, our chats have flowed through acupuncture, dogs, crystals and small magic moments. What felt like casual conversation was, in fact, the quiet beginning of a way of working together—and of this community acupuncture project.

Elen and I met on the sidelines of our daughters’ football match in Victoria Park, East London. Standing there week after week, we offered coaching insights to one another (as two mothers who barely know the offside rule). In hindsight, this feels like an early rehearsal for the work we now do together: witnessing, reflecting, and holding rather than intervening.

Elen is a GP practising in Tower Hamlets and is also an acupuncturist. When we first met, she was exploring the possibility of offering group acupuncture sessions for patients living with chronic pain at the Mission Practice. When I mentioned my work at City College, we began to wonder what collaboration might look like, without yet knowing its shape. We imagined different possibilities: a supervised satellite clinic for students, CPD training for graduates, or something else entirely. What has unfolded since then has been less about implementing a fixed model and more about allowing a form of practice to emerge through experience.

Since March 2023, Elen and I have facilitated group acupuncture sessions in various configurations. More recently, I have also had the privilege of working alongside a team of City College of Acupuncture graduates, Jules, Bonnie, Tina and Kate. Patients living with chronic pain are invited to attend between three and six weekly sessions. Most are treated seated in chairs, though the space itself seems to invite flexibility—some choose to lie on yoga mats, others shift positions as needed. Many moments of change happen quietly, often witnessed only by us. There is a sense that the room adapts to those within it, rather than the other way around.

One of the unexpected gifts of this work has been the wider practice context. The Social Prescriber has been unfailingly supportive, helping with practicalities such as scheduling and integration, but also acting as a quiet advocate for the work. I have been touched by the curiosity of GPs who stop me in the kitchen to ask about acupuncture, as if the presence of these sessions has gently softened boundaries and opened conversations. In time, this has extended to my involvement with a GP - facilitated Whole Person Health module at the Mission practice, where fifth-year medical students are supported to explore health beyond the purely physical. Sitting with these students and speaking about acupuncture has been deeply heartening; their openness and willingness to engage with a more traditional and holistic lens gives me hope for the future of integrative care.

As I reflect on this work using a familiar supervision framework - what went well, what could have been better, and what I might do differently - I notice that much of my learning has come from sitting with uncertainty.

I entered the group acupuncture setting with some reservations. I was aware that complex trauma often enters the room alongside physical pain, and I did not feel fully equipped for this. Yet what unfolded surprised me. We held the space, collectively and imperfectly, and something meaningful emerged. Over time, I experienced the work as a kind of quiet choreography: acupuncturists moving around one another with increasing ease, patients settling into the rhythm of the sessions, relationships forming organically. Trust grew. Patients shared strategies for managing pain, spoke to one another, and began to look forward to coming. Tea was poured, stories were exchanged, and at the final session, phone numbers were swapped. These moments felt small, but they carried weight.

Kat, who joined me in facilitating and later developed the evaluation process, offered an observation that has stayed with me. She noticed that language differences within the group—particularly among Bengali women—did not feel like a barrier in the absence of an interpreter. Instead, they appeared to strengthen the sense of collectivity, making the experience feel more shared and, in some ways, more beneficial. She likened this to her experience of hospital settings in China, where patients would “chirp in” with questions during consultations, contributing to a communal rather than individualised encounter. This observation has helped me trust my intuition: that meaning, and connection were being made beyond words.

What I might have done differently relates to evaluation and research. Early advice was to gather data, and I resisted this more than I realised at the time. Only during the final block of sessions did we begin to collect feedback in a more systematic way, helped by Kat, who transformed my handwritten questionnaires into a SurveyMonkey form—an act that felt almost miraculous in itself. In doing so, she gently challenged my assumption that data sits in opposition to relational or experiential ways of knowing.

The findings, though simple, were striking: 100% of participants reported an improvement in their general wellbeing by the end of the course; 87% felt the sessions helped them manage pain better; and all said they would recommend the service to others. I am still learning how data can sit alongside the quieter forms of knowing that have guided this work.

Conversations continue with the GP who leads the Whole Person Health module and holds a broader vision for how acupuncture might sit within a constellation of community-based support. In these winter months, it feels as though we are planting seeds rather than seeking immediate outcomes. One of the clearest reflections has been how well received the group acupuncture sessions have been, particularly by patients who are often described as “hard to engage.” There is a sense that acupuncture can act as a point of entry—a gentle hook—from which other forms of support, such as chaplaincy or community programmes, might unfold.

As I look back, what stays with me most strongly is a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for Ilze's encouragement to speak and share this work; for Elen's vision and steadiness, and for the way she has quietly held the clinical, relational and organisational centre from which this work could grow; for the acupuncturists Jules, Bonnie, Tina, Kate and Saima who have offered their time, skill and presence so generously; and for the GPs and administrative staff who have so warmly welcomed me into the practice.

I am also aware of how this work is travelling outward. Kat has begun developing an acupuncture service within her own local GP surgery in Sheffield, extending a vision and set of connections for NHS practice she already held. She generously shared that they were given fresh momentum through witnessing these sessions in action.

This work has taught me about collaboration, humility, and trust in processes that cannot always be planned in advance. As we move into the year of the Horse, I feel both grounded by what has already been built and quietly excited about what may yet emerge.

Special thanks to Phoenix Medical for supporting this project — your generosity has been invaluable in sustaining our community clinic and ensuring safe, excellent care.

Josephine Cerqua is an acupuncturist and Professional and Personal Development Module Lead at CCA. For almost three years, she has run and supported a Chronic Pain Community Clinic within an NHS GP practice in Tower Hamlets.