The king’s doctor insisted he was not a homeopath, but admitted he had “hypnotized himself to be happy”.
Dr Michael Dixon’s appointment as Royal Head of the Medical Household at the end of 2022 was controversial due to his “unconventional” views on homeopathy and faith healing. His interest in alternative medicine is shared by the King, with whom he has developed a close relationship over the decades.
But Dr Dixon, 72, has expressed disdainful views about the NHS, saying staff are being “suppressed” by regulations and treated in a “harmful” way, and has vowed to correct his practice. And so.
He also expressed great dissatisfaction with the demand for Ozempic among weight loss enthusiasts and suggested that people should take responsibility for their own health.
“I would like to say for the record that I have never studied homeopathy,” he told the Times in a rare interview. “I’ve never even recommended homeopathy. All I’ve done is say, if patients feel they’ve benefited from homeopathy, what’s the problem?”
Dr Dixon, 72, who leads the team of medical professionals looking after the royal family in his work as an NHS GP in Devon, admitted he had dabbled in alternative medical techniques. “I like acupressure. I do a little bit of manipulation, a little bit of herbs, a little bit of self-hypnosis, which I think is very effective,” he says, adding that in the past he has used “acupressure to be happy. “I was hypnotizing myself,” he added.
“It may serve a purpose.”
He admitted that he believed homeopathy could serve the purpose of the NHS, but not at the expense of “good evidence-based conventional medicine”.
Dr Dixon has long advocated a complementary or “integrative” approach to medicine, and once said he had “converted” to homeopathy after bringing Christian healers into his NHS clinic. He also wrote a paper stating that seeing a spiritual healer “may be an effective adjunct to the treatment of chronically ill patients in general practice.”
In 2019, then-Prince Charles told an audience about the doctor: “I have nothing but the utmost admiration for everything he has accomplished over the years.”
Dr Dixon was appointed to Queen Elizabeth II’s medical office shortly after her death and has since accompanied the monarch on state visits to Germany and Kenya. His salary is paid from the king’s private purse.
Focusing on the failing NHS, Dr Dixon said it was “insane” that one in five adults in the UK were taking antidepressants, adding that time-strapped GPs should It suggested that they simply did not have the time to address the patient’s problems more comprehensively.
Similarly, regarding the popularity of Ozempić, he said that the attitude is focused on stopgap solutions. “The more we go down this Ozempipic route, the more we say, ‘It’s not my fault, give me the shot, give me the medicine,'” he said.
