For years the family doctor was the person to turn to in times of illness.

Now, although the majority of people still call their GP, a growing number choose to try a different type of treatment.

Disillusionment with the medical profession - with cases of misdiagnosis and negligence regularly splashed across the newspapers - has brought complementary medicine and other so-called "alternative" methods of healing to the fore. In fact, a survey for a lifestyle magazine has revealed, nearly half of women try complementary medicine before visiting their family doctor.

There are a number of reasons for this, one of them being time. Forty per cent of women feel that doctors have less and less time to devote to them, and with many problems, time spent listening is a crucial factor in the healing process.

"Doctors don't have the time," says Bradford-based complementary therapist Carole Saville. "We give people time and we listen to them - it is all part of the treatment."

Carole, who practises aromatherapy, reflexology, Indian head massage and manual lymphatic drainage - a gentle massage which helps relieve conditions including migraine and ME - does not believe such treatments should be used in isolation. "They are, by name, complementary, and should be used as well as conventional treatments," she said..

"There is definitely a place for each," she added, saying that more serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes demand a doctor, while stress-related conditions were suited to the complementary approach.

"If it was something I felt I could not treat I would advise the client to see a doctor," she added.

Carole, who has treated children aged three and adults who are nearly 90, acknowledges that some have lost faith in conventional medicine, with the possible side-effects.

"They would rather have something more natural," she affirmed.

The most popular forms of alternative therapy are massage and reflexology. Nationally, they are used by 56 per cent of women and in the north by a staggering 81 per cent.

Christine Craggs-Hinton believes she is living proof that complementary medicine works.

A sufferer of the debilitating condition Fibromyalgi, Christine says alternative therapies have given her a new lease of life.

The 48-year-old from Baildon was diagnosed with the illness, which causes chronic soft tissue pain in the muscles, tendons and ligaments, in 1992.

Christine explained how she would have to spend days in bed because of the chronic pain, but two years ago she started taking homeopathy tablets, a natural source which stimulates the body and helps ease pain, and she says she wishes she had discovered the treatment sooner.

"I am better now than I ever thought I would be - I am better than I have been in 10 years," said Christine.

Stan Ledgard, who runs courses in complementary therapies at Mountain Hall, Queensbury, also feels that the time factor - which is often attributed to doctors' workloads - is important in turning people towards other methods of healing. "Maybe people are waiting a long time to see their doctor or their GP is not giving them the time they want - to some time is part of the healing itself," he said.

"Generally speaking, complementary therapies have no side effects which is a plus point. It is an alternative, but not a total alternative."

He said that if he felt unwell he would visit a doctor. "I would find out what was wrong and treat myself," he added.

Courses at the centre include aromatherapy massage, crystal therapies and Indian head massage. Stan admits that some complementary healing involves psychological factors. "You have something to focus on - it helps the body to heal itself," he said.

"Complementary therapies are moving into medical centres now so people must realise that they are of some value. The drug companies won't like it, but it's good news."

Leading consultant rheumatologist, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg, believes there should be ring-fenced funding for complementary programmes in the NHS.

"It's the only way that patients' increasing need and demand for these services are going to be met," said Dr Rosenberg. "We need to follow Europe's example and bring complementary medicine into mainstream medical practice."

But Dr Tom Smith, a GP who writes for the Telegraph & Argus, said while he recognised there had been a huge increase in demand for the family doctors service, complementary medicine wasn't the answer.

He said either more GPs were needed to cater for the demand or improvements ought to be made to health education in schools.

Dr Smith said complementary medicine had been about for 5,000 years yet people didn't live as long then as they do now since the introduction of orthodox medical treatments.

"We are trying to bring medicine into the 21st century, not wanting to go back to the 17th century when complementary medicines were being used," he said.