Clare Gerada: influence on UK medical practice and ME/CFS management

Link to the PDF from the House of Lords Appointment Commission on the appointments made. The website has more info on how these appointments are made.

Two new non-party-political peers recommended by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission were announced today.
The new peers are:
- Professor Dame Clare Gerada, a distinguished medical practitioner with extensive experience in general practice and mental health
- Polly Neate CBE, an expert in social policy, specialising in housing, homelessness and violence against women and girls
They will sit on the crossbenches
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hotblack said:
Me either, Wikipedia has write ups for them both
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Baroness Scott is a Conservative [LibDem] with a background in dairy farming and local government.

Lord Bethell is a Conservative hereditary peer (I keep forgetting there any left). He had a background in journalism and had a nightclub before going into politics running for a number of Parliamentary constituencies, becoming an MP not long before he inherited his title.

Perhaps we can assume good intentions, this tells us little about their likely understanding of and support for ME/CFS issues or whether they might provide a useful counter to Baroness Gerada.

[edited to correct error of fact]
 
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Tweets by Adam (@ABrokenBattery):

Dr Clare Gerada has been appointed a crossbench peer in the House of Lords and is now a Baroness. She is married to psychiatrist Sir Simon Wessely, the main architect of the now-discredited psychological approach to #MECFS.​


Gerada has been a long supporter of this model and treatments including trying to influence policy - she sent a letter expressing concern about the Scottish Good Practice Statement on #MECFS in 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/2013081...tgroup.org.uk/resources/ClareGeradaLETTER.pdf

She also appeared in a damaging 1990s GP training video about #MECFS, saying to a patient “You’re obviously drinking erratically during the week.” A strange thing to include in a training video when many people with #MECFS don’t tolerate alcohol.

In the same video, she also advised a patient with #MECFS to keep exercising “even when they feel rotten” advice now recognised as harmful and withdrawn from NICE guidance in 2021 because the research was flawed and many patients reported it made them worse.

Gerada appeared on BBC Breakfast in Jan 2021 in a segment about Long Covid, stating that “there is nothing that isn’t made better through exercise.” This is false as at least 50% of patients report that graded exercise makes their #MECFS worse.https://meassociation.org.uk/2017/0...e-least-negative-reactions-02-september-2017/

After significant pushback, rather than acknowledge her statement was problematic, Gerada tried to paint herself as the victim, saying she was only describing her post-Covid experience not talking about Long Covid - See full thread
Robert Saunders (aka McMullen)

Robert Saunders (aka McMullen)​

Jan 30 21
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Show this thread

The treatment of #MECFS has been described by George Monbiot as “the greatest medical scandal of the 21st century.” Watch the 27 minute explainer video or read the transcript with references:
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Peter T said:
Baroness Scott is a Conservative with a background in dairy farming and local government.

Lord Bethell is a Conservative hereditary peer (I keep forgetting there any left). He had a background in journalism and had a nightclub before going into politics running for a number of Parliamentary constituencies, becoming an MP not long before he inherited his title.

Perhaps we can assume good intentions, this tells us little about their likely understanding of and support for ME/CFS issues or whether they might provide a useful counter to Baroness Gerada.
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A non sequitur but I was caught by “She also appeared in a damaging 1990s GP training video about #MECFS, saying to a patient “You’re obviously drinking erratically during the week.” A strange thing to include in a training video when many people with #MECFS don’t tolerate alcohol”. Many years ago, in the 1990s, when I was still struggling to continue working, an occupational health consulted started his assessment with ‘ME does exist so you either have aids or are an alcoholic, which is it?” I have always wondered why he had picked these two unconnected arbitrary conditions, perhaps there was a medical thing in the 90s about ME and alcohol misuse being some how related.
 
V.R.T. said:
Should this say 'doesn't '?

It is absolutely galling that she and Wessely are allowed to pretend that they cared about people with ME/CFS whilst having devoted their careers to maligning us and doing away with ME/CFS as a diagnosis.
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Perhaps you should say ‘having devoted much of their careers to maligning us’ as they have also worked quite hard at maligning other clinical and non clinical groupings too.
 
Peter T said:
A non sequitur but I was caught by “She also appeared in a damaging 1990s GP training video about #MECFS, saying to a patient “You’re obviously drinking erratically during the week.” A strange thing to include in a training video when many people with #MECFS don’t tolerate alcohol”. Many years ago, in the 1990s, when I was still struggling to continue working, an occupational health consulted started his assessment with ‘ME does exist so you either have aids or are an alcoholic, which is it?” I have always wondered why he had picked these two unconnected arbitrary conditions, perhaps there was a medical thing in the 90s about ME and alcohol misuse being some how related.
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This really shows how deep the 'blame and stigmatise the patient' rot goes. And that it was reinforced in training to treat the patient with suspicion.

It must be your fault you feel ill. You must be an alcoholic (which is still a very stigmatised condition) or have AIDS (still an extremely stigmatised condition in the 90s).

In a sane world this video alone would have barred her from this kind of political elevation.
 
Jaybee00 said:


"Huge congratulations to our former Chair and President Clare Gerada on becoming a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords.

A lifelong College member and now a Baroness – but first and foremost a grassroots GP who continues to deliver exceptional care to your patients and to fight for the profession you love.

You witnessed the power of general practice from a young age, seeing at first-hand the difference your GP father made to his patients’ lives, and we know you will be the most powerful advocate for GPs and patients in the House of Lords.

We are so proud of you Clare. You are an inspirational and courageous leader, and this is a historic moment for you and for our College. We wish you every success."

Comments pretty negative on this.
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just going through the comments and found this

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1761224991652.png
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says it all really - particularly when you read the "Basically." that she wrote after the claim "They told be to F off." which kind of infers that at best she used poetic licence. And when you read the rest you think 'politely ignored, knowing she was talking nonsense' has been turned into a story akin to 'being trolled'
 
bobbler said:
just going through the comments and found this





says it all really - particularly when you read the "Basically." that she wrote after the claim "They told be to F off." which kind of infers that at best she used poetic licence. And when you read the rest you think 'politely ignored, knowing she was talking nonsense' has been turned into a story akin to 'being trolled'
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Its absolutely insane how many NHS staff still believe covid isnt airborne. This was Feb 2020 but could easily be Feb 2025.
 
Peter T said:
Perhaps you should say ‘having devoted much of their careers to maligning us’ as they have also worked quite hard at maligning other clinical and non clinical groupings too.
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On the rare occasion where I see Wessely's name outside of our community, wow is he hated by a lot of people. It's actually impressive, and the contrast it offers with the gushing praise he gets within UK medicine circles is the most impressive part.

That really should be a big clue about what it means for us, because once can be excused, twice is hard to justify, but this is even more than that. Punching down remains the best way to get ahead in life, so of course it's always rewarded.
 
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V.R.T. said:
Its absolutely insane how many NHS staff still believe covid isnt airborne. This was Feb 2020 but could easily be Feb 2025.
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I can believe that.

Just another story (if it happened) of

Certain type insists on forcing misinformation onto someone --> person politely ignores in order to avoid harming their own health --> person who gave out said 'advice' then decides to turn it into a story reworded to not just claim but centre the focus around the claim they'd been told to 'F off' and were somehow both in the right and 'the victim'

.. to try and distract whilst/sugarpill force-feeding that same incorrect message/order down readers' ears as 'the correct info' and not to listen to anyone telling you any different

And at the same time turning it into an identity/ideology issue rather than science where the focus is on allegiance (and which truth you believe is based on 'who was in the right' in the made up exchange?)

Is there a term for this old chestnut of a sandwich technique in the old intellectual tricks/using storytelling to sell messages vocab?
 
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