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: All Party Parliamentary Group on ME

Meeting my MP – what should I ask?

ME Essential Summer 2024

As we are heading for a general election later this year, I thought it would be useful to see if I could arrange a face to face meeting with my MP. To my surprise I have been given 15 minutes at his local ‘surgery’ in a few weeks time. What are the most important issues that I need to make my MP aware of?

Functional Capacity Assessments and Evaluations

ME Essential Autumn 2023

I have been receiving regular payments over several years from an insurance-based Income Protection Policy. This comes as part of my employment package.

I also receive PIP benefit from the DWP – who accept that I have significant problems with both mobility and care. So I would have thought that this would be adequate on-going evidence of my disability.

The insurance company now want to send me for a functional capacity test to assess whether I am capable of working again. What will this involve?

Is this test a valid way of assessing capability for work if you have ME/CFS? And can I refuse to do so if I am not happy with the way I am going to be assessed?

ME/CFS Specialist Services

ME Essential Winter 2022

The new NICE guideline was published a year ago. But here in Northamptonshire we still don’t have a specialist ME/CFS service where GPs can refer people for help with either diagnosis or management. And there doesn’t appear to be any formal arrangement with a referral centre anywhere else that GPs can refer people to. I think this is unacceptable. So I am going to raise this with my MP – hopefully by arranging a meeting. Do you have a brief summary of the key points that I need to make?

Charles Shepherd

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