Author: Editorialteam

When NICE becomes nasty

CFS, Chronic Illness, Disability Rights, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, ME, NICE, NICE guidelines

The extraordinary decision of NICE not to publish the ME/CFS Guidelines is dangerous and quite disgraceful. They were due to be published on 18th August 2021, but without any reasoned explanation, that didn’t happen.

The draft guidelines, which were published on 10th November 2020, made some clear changes to the way that people with ME/CFS should be treated by healthcare professionals. They removed CBT as a ‘cure’ for ME/CFS and accepted that GET – graded exercise therapy – was not an appropriate treatment either. Both of these changes were welcomed by many patient groups and DPOs.

So, why were the guidelines not published? We can only speculate as to the true reason and that may not be a wise option from a legal perspective. We fear that undue influence has lead NICE into some very murky and nasty ethical waters.

What we do know is that copies of the guidelines have been sent out to a large number of recipients via 280 stakeholder groups, subject to confidentiality agreements which were due to expire on publication at 12.01am on 18 August, and that there has also been press reporting of the guideline. So the information is already in the public domain.

We call on those stakeholders and individuals to be open and accountable to the very people they seek to represent. You have a public duty to disclose and publish the full guidance, so that people with ME/CFS can have the knowledge they need to advocate for themselves.

  1. We call on NICE to publish immediately so that everyone can see what the current document says and understand what the argument is about. The public interest in knowing this is overwhelming and the current statement fails to address community concerns.
  2. In the absence of NICE doing this, call on stakeholders who have the document to publish en masse by agreement and at an agreed time in order to provide universal access. 

We would also urge all those who are affected by the failure of NICE to publish these guidelines to contact their MP. It is vital that this matter can be raised immediately when parliament begins its next session on 6th September. The ME Association have a great template letter you can use: https://bit.ly/3ktpBAz

Please also sign this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/the-national-institute-for-health-and-care-excellence-publish-the-nice-me-cfs-guideline-now

Government Fails Disabled People Again

Disability, DWP, Employment

About us but not with us – Disabled People reject new ‘tick box’ national disability strategy.

Disabled people and our organisations  across the country have expressed outrage at the Government’s decision to go ahead with the launch of a national disability strategy that is not a strategy, does not address key problems, does not reflect the issues and priorities of disabled people and was not developed with disabled people organisations.

We have been waiting for 10 long years for a strategy that will tackle the growing poverty, exclusion and discrimination we face and set out a transformative plan for social justice, equality and inclusion. This so-called strategy does neither of these things.  

The lack of meaningful engagement with disabled people and our organisations in the development of this so-called strategy has been so bad that a group of disabled campaigners are taking the Government to court on the grounds that consultation was so poor as to be unlawful  

A spokesperson for the DPO forum said:

» Read more

Leave a comment

Women’s Healthcare Survey reveals ‘medical ableism’

ELCI

Chronic Illness Inclusion has responded to the Department for Health and Social Care’s inquiry into Women’s health and well-being in England.

To ensure that our organisational submission reflected the concerns of women with Energy Limiting Chronic Illnesses we launched our own survey.

Over one thousand women responded, with hundreds giving details of the difficulties they have experienced in getting diagnoses, treatment and support. They reflected a culture of disbelief and dismissal. Many of the responses were heartbreaking to read. Over the weeks to come we will begin to share some of these responses so that women’s voices, which are too often silenced, can be heard and amplified.

Lead author, Catherine Hale, writes:

» Read more

One comment

Disability employment gap – CII gives evidence

Brain Fog, CFS, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Disability, DWP, ELCI, Employment, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Long Covid, ME

CII were recently invited to give evidence to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee. This is the first time that evidence has been specifically sought from people living with energy limiting chronic illness – ELCI.

You can watch our Director, Catherine Hale giving evidence on YouTube.

Catherine’s speech begins approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes into the recording.

Leave a comment

“I already have a job… getting through the day”

Chronic Illness, Disability Rights, DWP, ELCI, Employment, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Long Covid, ME, Mental Health, Systemic Disbelief

Our latest policy report on ELCI, employment and social security

The ‘I already have a job…’ report, by Catherine Hale (CII), Stef Benstead (CII), Dr Kate Hardy (Leeds University Business School) and Dr Jo Ingold (Deakin University), sets out how government, employers and the benefits system are failing millions of people in the UK with Energy Limiting Chronic Illnesses – (ELCIs).

Although one-in-three disabled people of working age experiences problems with stamina, breathing or fatigue, the report says that their needs are not reflected in the workplace, in legislation, or by disability assessments like the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

Despite ELCIs affecting almost 5 million adults in the UK, these people are hidden within disability-related policies because their lived experiences of illness and impairment is widely misunderstood, often discredited, denied and disbelieved.

Lack of knowledge about ELCIs and how reasonable adjustments should work, make it impossible for people with these conditions do paid work. The rapid move to home working during the pandemic shows that such change is possible. It is imperative that employers continue such beneficial practices.

» Read more

Leave a comment

‘Reclaiming Chronic Illness’ seminar

Chronic Illness, ELCI, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Housebound, ME, Social Exclusion, Social Model of Disability

Our Director Catherine Hale and Dr Anna Ruddock recently took part in an event organised by the School of Health Sciences at City, University of London.

In this seminar they share findings from the Chronic Illness Inclusion Project. Set up in 2017 this was a user-led research action project aiming to give a voice to those with an invisible disability. Fatigue and limited energy were found to be the most common restricting factors for those with a variety of chronic illnesses, but were not often recognised as impairments and were often treated dismissively.

You can watch the event on YouTube

 

Leave a comment

Duty of Care and the DWP

Chronic Illness, DWP, DWP Benefits, Mental Health

The recent inquest into the tragic death of Philippa Day has once again, shown the inadequacies and cruelty of a benefits system that damages the mental health of claimants.

The disability benefits system engenders a culture of systemic disbelief towards claimants, creating a hostile environment towards the very people it is supposed to support. Reports of claimants who complete suicide or starve to death as a result of traumatic assessments or benefit sanctions do not appear to have prompted any change in policy or procedure by successive ministers in charge of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

» Read more

Leave a comment , , , , ,

It’s Our Community

CFS, Chronic Illness, ELCI, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Housebound, ME, Social Care, Social Exclusion

Catherine Hale spoke at It’s Our Community, a conference on social care reform. Catherine explained the high prevalence of energy limiting conditions and the psychological impact of not being believed.

I was a social care user back in the 1990s. I’ve had my chronic illness for over three decades and when it was really acute, and I couldn’t wash feed myself, or go to the loo, I had a care package. But later years when things were less severe, my needs were harder to grasp because my impairment was invisible and poorly understood. The social care system completely let me down. As a disabled lone parent I had no support.

» Read more

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

CII responds to The Real Deal

BBC, Chronic Illness, DWP Benefits

CII has written to the BBC to explain why their TV programme caused hurt and distress to disabled people with invisible chronic illness, as well as other hidden impairments.

The Chronic Illness Inclusion Project’s letter to the team behind the controversial episode in the ‘Crip Tales’ series, ‘The Real Deal’ (BBC Four) is co-signed by other Disabled People’s Organisations and service user and patient-led organisations.

The letter asks for constructive dialogue with the team, and others at the BBC, to ensure disabled people with non-visible impairments are portrayed in a positive light in future programming.

» Read more

Leave a comment , , , , ,

That which divides us

Chronic Illness, Disabled People Against Cuts, DPAC, DWP Benefits, ELCI, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Long Covid, Social Model of Disability

Chronic Illness Inclusion spoke at an event hosted by Disabled People Against Cuts to discuss the need to reinvigorate the social model of disability.

This blog piece follows a discussion on the 6th of July 2020 in response to Ellen Clifford’s new book ‘The War on Disabled People’ from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) about ‘Reinvigorating the Social Model of Disability’, to which Catherine was invited. You can watch Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

We completely agree with Ellen Clifford that the social model of disability is intended to be a tool for uniting disabled people to take collective action. Now is a time for such unity if ever there was one. The global response to COVID-19, on top of ten years of austerity in the UK, has shown just how little disabled lives matter to the political classes. However, people with chronic illnesses have struggled to unite with other disabled people under the banner of the social model.

Catherine founded the Chronic Illness Inclusion Project as a programme of action research aimed at developing an advocacy movement for people with chronic illness. The project discovered that, although people with what we call ‘energy limiting chronic illnesses’ (ELCI) are potentially a big constituency of disabled people – 32% of working age disabled people in the UK experience impairment of stamina, breathing or fatigue – there is a disconnect between us and the rest of the UK Disabled People’s Movement (DPM).

» Read more

Leave a comment , , , , , , , , ,
1 2 3