Acupuncturists and herbalists are to be regulated by the government and barred from practising if they fail to meet professional standards, under plans announced yesterday by John Hutton, the health minister.

He said regulation would reassure patients that practitioners were qualified, competent and up to date with developments.

A complementary and alternative medicine council would be set up with powers similar to those of the General Medical Council for setting minimum training standards and striking off anyone guilty of malpractice.

Mike O'Farrell, chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council, said it had been campaigning for statutory regulation of acupuncture, but the government's approach would require further discussion in the profession.

Mr Hutton also announced plans for putting 300,000 healthcare assistants on the same footing as other professional groups. They will have to be registered with a professional body, properly trained, and disciplined.

The initiative - affecting nearly a quarter of the NHS workforce - was welcomed last night by the trade union Unison as a means of providing a ladder of opportunity for thousands of relatively low-paid staff.

The Department of Health said it viewed the measure as an extra safeguard for patients. At present, healthcare assistants deliver much of nursing care. But there are no agreed standards for establishing whether they have the required competence and no system for stopping them practising elsewhere in the NHS if a hospital finds them unfit.