Prince Charles has been criticised for continuing to endorse homeopathy by becoming a patron of an organisation dedicated to promoting it.

The Faculty of Homeopathy, which supports registered medical professionals with homeopathic practice, described the Prince of Wales’s patronage as an “enormous honour”.

But others were less impressed, given that homeopathy has been described by the House of Commons’ science and technology committee as “scientifically implausible”. The government’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, once told a parliamentary committee it was “rubbish”.

The prince’s continued support for homeopathic remedies comes despite the NHS having all but abandoned them. In 2017, announcing plans for them to be made unavailable on prescription on the NHS, Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive, said homeopathy was “at best a placebo and a misuse of scarce NHS funds”.

Michael Marshall, the project director at the Good Thinking Society, said: “This news is sadly no surprise, given how routinely Prince Charles has used his royal platform to advocate for an anti-science position when it comes to homeopathy, but it is obscene to think that the UK’s next head of state believes this is an appropriate issue to use his considerable public profile to promote.

“We have been reminded only recently that plenty of homeopaths claim to be able to treat autism and discourage vaccinations. If Prince Charles wants to have a genuine positive effect on the health of the nation he intends to one day rule, he should side against those who offer dangerously misleading advice, rather than fighting their corner.”

Prof Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, has been at loggerheads with Charles for years over the prince’s support for homeopathy, infamously labelling him a “snake oil salesman”. He questioned whether Charles would be able to make any difference in his new role, given the weight of evidence against the practice.

He said: “In view of Charles’s long love affair with homeopathy, this news is unsurprising. The question is whether this will change anything about the sharp decline homeopathy has taken in this and several other countries, and whether it will alter the verdicts of dozens of independent organisations which recently have certified it to be a pure placebo therapy.”

Dr Gary Smyth, the president of the Faculty of Homeopathy, said: “It is an enormous honour for us to receive the patronage of his royal highness the Prince of Wales and I am delighted to announce this news.”