In early October, the ME Association sent a major mailing to all GP surgeries. In total 8,121 packages were sent, and each included a covering letter and 5 items of literature that we hope will keep frontline healthcare services informed about recent developments.
The exercise began with a download of GP surgeries and postal addresses from the NHS Digital website. We then had to edit these large spreadsheets to ensure that the surgeries and postal addresses were accurate.
Each contained a lot of surgeries and other medical businesses who had closed or merged, and others that were not relevant. It took us from June to hone the list into something we felt more confident about. We then checked the list against available information from the devolved nations and from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The geographic breakdown for the mailing was as follows:
- England = 6,425 GP Surgeries
- Wales = 472 GP Surgeries
- Northern Ireland = 299 GP Surgeries
- Scotland = 875 GP Surgeries
- Channel Islands, Isle of Man & Alderney = 50 GP Surgeries.
We are very keen to ensure that NHS primary care surgeries continue to receive essential information about ME/CFS (and Long Covid) to help them be as aware and understanding of the condition as is possible.
The ME Association has recently put additional resource into trying to help local residents demonstrate demand for improved health and social care services. We want to see all areas develop services that are compliant with the recommendations contained in the 2021 NICE Guideline on ME/CFS. Juan Corlett has been appointed to lead this initiative and will be announcing his plans very soon.
This mailing will help pave the way for this work by alerting frontline healthcare professionals to the changes that have occurred with the NICE Guideline and the positive work we are completing with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) which will see ME/CFS prioritised in 2023 and beyond!
What your GPs surgery has received in this mailing
- A covering letter from Dr Charles Shepherd (see opposite).
- ME Medical magazine: which explains the launch of the DHSC initiatives.
- The MEA Summary of the NICE Clinical Guideline on ME/CFS.
- The MEA booklet: Diagnosing ME/CFS.
- The MEA booklet: ME/CFS & Long Covid: Similarities and Differences.
- Information about the CPD training module for healthcare professionals about ME/CFS from StudyPRN.
- Information about the CPD training module for healthcare professionals about the NICE Guideline on ME/CFS from MIMS Learning.