MEDICAL MATTERS
- Medical Matters features questions asked by Members of the ME Association on health-related topics.
- Dr Charles Shepherd and the ME Association's other advisers answer these questions by sharing their expert knowledge.
- Medical Matters is based on the popular ‘Ask the Doctor’ series in ME Essential magazine.
- It is a free resource that supplements the detailed information contained in the full range of literature that can be found in the website shop.
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Questions in the Category: Care Quality Commission
Residential Care Home: Complaints
I am becoming increasing concerned about the care that a relative with ME/CFS is receiving in a private residential care home. The staff have no understanding about how to care for people with ME and try to push her to do more and more. There have been occasions where I feel that her care has been neglectful or even harmful. I have raised my concerns in meetings with the staff and management on several occasions – who fail to accept that there is a problem. What can I do?
Medical Consent
I am becoming increasingly concerned about my wife, who has had ME for many years. Her condition is getting worse and I believe she has also crossed the boundary from feeling fed up to being quite badly depressed. She no longer has any contact with her GP because he cannot offer any useful form of management advice and she does not want to ‘bother the doctor’. As we both have the same doctor, I asked the surgery receptionist if I could have an appointment to talk to the GP about my wife. I was told that this would not be possible because doctors have to follow very strict rules on medical confidentiality. This means they cannot discuss one person’s health with someone else, even a close relative. Is this correct? And, if so, what can I do to get some professional medical input?
Dr Charles Shepherd
Dr Shepherd has been Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association for more than 40 years. He is integral to the charity's activities and provides information and support based on his professional knowledge, personal experience as a doctor with ME/CFS, and the understanding gained from helping many thousands of people with the condition. He was a member of the comittee responsible for the 2021 NICE Clinical Guideline and is a recognised expert on ME/CFS in the UK. His knowledge extends to Post-Viral Fatigue Syndromes (PVFS), Myalgic Encephalopathy/Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) or Long Covid.
If you have questions about ME/CFS or Long Covid, you can:
- Review the free information in the What is ME/CFS? section of the website, and the free Covid-19 and Long Covid information in the website shop.
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Medical Matters is based on the popular ‘Ask the Doctor‘ series featured in the highly-regarded member’s magazine, ME Essential, and in the healthcare professional magazine, ME Medical. Both are produced by the ME Association and published as hard-copy magazines every 3 months and sent to members and healthcare professionals by post to home or business addresses.
If you are an HCP you can sign-up here to receive ME Medical magazine (people with ME/CFS can also nominate their HCP by completing the sign-up form).
