#MEAction UK is asking for the help of people with ME across England and Wales. Following the updated NICE guidline on ME/CFS, they’ve launched their new “Dear Doctor” campaign.
Many people with the condition submitted videos to directly appeal to doctors across the country and ask them to study the new guideline. The script was written by ME and ME founder Charlie Wainwright and contributors in the video included Charlie Wainwright, York ME Community’s founder Bill Clayton and Lucy Rhodes from Saltaire.
The ME organisation is asking people with the disease across England and Wales to contact their doctors and medical professionals and ask them to watch the “Dear Doctor” video.
There are now new recommendations on the way people with ME can be helped, including the eradication of Graded Exercise Therapy (GET).
Please share the video with your local GP practice by using #MEAction UK’s template, see below.
Subject: New NICE guideline on ME/CFS
Dear [insert your doctor’s name, or the name of the GP practice]
The new NICE guideline on ME/CFS was published in October. The guideline contains new recommendations on the treatment and management for people suffering from ME/CFS in England and Wales. I am writing to ask you to read it to help patients like me who suffer from this debilitating disease.
Read the guideline here: nice.org.uk/guidance/ng206
I’d like to draw your attention to five key recommendations in the guideline that I think will help health professions support patients like me:
- Understand and recognise that people with ME may have experienced prejudice and disbelief and could feel stigmatised by people (including family, friends, health and social care professionals and teachers) who do not understand their illness
- Do not offer any programme that uses fixed incremental increases in physical activity or exercise, for example, graded exercise therapy.
- Provide care flexibly to the person’s needs, such as by online or phone consultations or making home visits.
- Be aware of how to diagnose ME and be confident in recognising it. It is a fluctuating condition in which a person’s symptoms can change unpredictably in nature and severity over a day, week or longer.
- Signpost people to support groups, give advice on financial and social support, and access to aids and adaptations.
Please go meaction.net/medical-education to watch the Dear Doctor video, for education modules and to find out more about the new NICE guideline on ME/CFS.
Yours sincerely,
[insert your name]
*******end of template*******
We’d love to hear the responses you recieve after sharing the video. Please get in touch and let us know how you get on by using the contact box below.
ME and Me 