They also show the DHB spent $4777 seeking legal opinions on the clinic - it had previously said no extra money had been spent on setting it up in a building on Wanganui Hospital grounds.

Documents show the clinic was covered by the board's liability insurance and that the Medical Council needed evidence it would do no harm.

Meditation, massage and energy healing - including reiki and colour therapy - were offered free to staff as part of a three-month trial which began in August. Fifteen therapists treated 75 staff over five weeks.

Therapists worked in pairs. There was to be no spinal manipulation, no use of needles and no prescription of ingested remedies. No patients other than staff were treated with reiki or given meditation cards.

The trial was halted in September after comments by emergency department specialist Chris Cresswell linked the clinic to witchcraft and wizardry. He was the driving force behind the initiative and wanted to open it up to patients.