MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE FORWARD-ME STEERING GROUP

HELD ON WED DEC 15^TH 2021

Apologies: Sonya Chowdhury

1. NICE GUIDELINES IMPLEMENTATION

• The recent meeting with Heather Stephens (senior team member) at NICE was discussed and their implementation statement will be forwarded shortly in confidence to the SG for our comment by Jan 10th. It’s anticipated this will be published for use by commissioners of services and clinicians by Jan 31^st but this may prove optimistic.
• It’s hoped this will supported by a training package produced by F-ME and endorsed by NICE in the form of a ‘GP Guide’ with a possible follow-up workshop post publication.
• An important refinement in regard to GET, replacing ‘exercise’ with ‘activity management’ was suggested and we hope will be incorporated.
• The meeting was positive and constructive.
• An Implementation sub-committee led by Nina was agreed and she will propose members shortly.

2. BACME

• An initial meeting with Anna Gregorowski (Chair) and Vikki McKeever (Comms) was held to discuss working more closely together.
• They have circa 180 members mostly OT’s and focus on training and education which is our current priority.
• We will report further on progress.

3. 2022 BUDGET

• This is to be drafted by Andrew and circulated for comment.
• There were no recommendations.

4. MEMBERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS

• Peter’s newsletter/review of the year was approved and is to be distributed to members and put on our website.
• This will become the norm from now on and produced every 2 months to coincide with the bi-monthly member meetings.
• Contributions, case studies and interviews with members are most welcome.

5. MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENTS & FEES

• These are gradually being received in advance of the Jan 1^st
• 3 fee waivers were agreed; Physios with ME; PAG; Nigel Speight.

6. ME DAY DEMO

• The idea of a peaceful demonstration on Thurs 12^th May to raise awareness and create an impactful media narrative was discussed, although organising this for 2022 may prove ambitious.
• Andrew to take soundings from #MEActionUK to see if a collaboration with their ‘Millions Missing’ campaign would prove effective.

7. LOOKING BACK

• The annual review is a useful reminder at what has collectively been achieved this year and SG members and contributions from the wider membership were greatly appreciated and acknowledged.
• Andrew proposed that feedback and an annual appraisal of his role as Chair (since April 1^s ) is best practice.
• None was forthcoming, but this may be dealt with individually by SG members, possibly using an existing HR template.

8. AOB

• Meetings are to be monthly for the time being, generally 60-90 mins on the second Wed at 10am, Zoom invitations to follow.
• Charles advised that the APPG on ME report was almost ready for publication and will probably be the subject of the next parliamentary meeting. FME will need to link in with any publicity which the report attracts.  He will check with Carol to see if FME can have an advance copy.

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