Susan Thorne

2/11/48 - 20/10/2023

After graduating from the College of Traditional Acupuncture in 1993, Susan built a career that blended her foundational training in 5-Element acupuncture with the wider principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Before her move into acupuncture, Susan spent 25 years working in the television industry at the BBC.

In 1996 Susan opened Tanglewood Clinic, located on the small farm she ran with her husband. She established one of the first Regional Groups for the BAcC. Her practice flourished, leading to increased involvement in the BAcC, where she served on various committees and eventually led both the Executive Committee (EC) and the newly formed Governing Board (GB). After fulfilling her three-year commitment as Chairman, Susan continued to practise at Tanglewood Clinic until she retired in 2022, having ensured continuing care for her patients.

Susan's approach to acupuncture was always influenced by her background in dance, her understanding of bodily mechanics, and her training in tai chi and massage.

Throughout her career, Susan was deeply committed to helping others navigate their own life's journeys through acupuncture, drawing on a rich tapestry of experiences and methodologies that illustrate the diverse pathways within the field.

Susan will be greatly missed by all – from her local colleagues and patients whom she knew and helped, to the wider acupuncture community for whom she campaigned through the BAcC to build a stronger and more unified voice for traditional acupuncture and complementary medicine in general.

Susan - BAcC Chairman - 2009-2012

Susan became a Member of BAcC when the Council was first formed in 1995 and was an influential force during all of her career – always able to talk passionately, coherently and persuasively about traditional acupuncture and its place in the field of complementary medicine.

As founder and co-ordinator of the Guildford and Surrey BAcC Regional Group in 1999, Susan played an important role in building the Regional Group network across the whole country. She believed that fellow members should work as colleagues and not competitors. She always welcomed clinical observation students to Tanglewood Clinic – an annexe to the smallholding that she ran with her husband, Malcolm. Working the vegetable garden and caring for the animals in the fields kept her in touch with the seasons and underpinned her 5-Element work.

In 2009, she became Chairman of BAcC and applied her characteristic energy and presence of mind to all aspects of the role, especially during the transition from Executive Committee to Governing Board. She helped modernise governance structures and develop a more professional BAcC – producing a new annual strategy and facilitating work on attaining PSA accreditation.

Always keen to explore how the BAcC could make its voice heard, Susan was a strong advocate of PR. She was always quick off the mark to contact any new Secretary of State or Minister for Health and Wellbeing, to ‘welcome’ them to their new role. She was also influential in driving the BAcC research agenda – keen to emphasise how individual members could make an impact through collecting data in their practices.

Representing the profession in a wider context, Susan delivered lectures abroad and continued to forge invaluable external links.

In 2015, when she was awarded a Fellowship, Susan wrote this article for the BAcC 20th Anniversary Review:

Transition to a Leaner Structure

Early on, we were blessed with visionary members who gave their time establishing codes of professional conduct and safe practice, as well as educational standards and an informative newsletter for members. However, as we grew it became increasingly difficult for members to give the time needed alongside their acupuncture practice. The changing face of acupuncture research commitments meant that if we wanted to be taken seriously as a profession and enable more people to benefit from acupuncture treatment, we needed to raise our profile, and also to be seen to be represented at many tables.

One of Mike O’Farrell’s early tasks as our first professional CEO was to represent the BAcC at the House of Lords Select Committee reporting on complementary therapies. He made great efforts to learn our ethos and began to raise our status with the Government and the public.

When I was elected to the Executive Committee (EC) in 2004 it was still 25 members strong and consequently rather unwieldy. By the time I became Chairman in 2009 discussions were well underway to devise a leaner structure. In 2011, the EC disbanded and long-term strategic direction of the BAcC became the responsibility of a Governing Board (GB) of five elected BAcC members and four appointed non-practitioner members. I remained as Chairman to be the link to the new set-up.

The CEO would be accountable to the GB for implementing the strategy and, most importantly, for financial control. I did not seek re-election in 2012 because I felt a different set of qualities was needed to steer a course into the longer term. Charlie Buck was elected and took up the baton bringing with him different attributes and new qi.

Susan Thorne, Member and former BAcC Chairman