ME/CFS diagnosis and management among topics at free Pulse virtual event for GPs, Dr Alastair Miller, 24th March 2026

Beth said:
Posts moved from
UK Government Delivery Plan for ME/CFS, published 22nd July 2025

I wasn’t sure where to post this, but the article infers it’s part of the plan? A lot of people understandably furious on twitter/x, how on earth did this happen and who knew about it? Is these anything we can do? Does any one know any more about the content? https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/c...g-topics-at-free-pulse-virtual-event-for-gps/
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"page not found" when I click on link
 
Lou B Lou said:
Pulse have removed the page while they look into it, following a letter to Pulse from Naomi Harvey this morning. See My previous post on this thread
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No doubt this will reinforce his ideas about negative messages propagated by some organisations and websites, perhaps he could do with some multidisciplinary help to reframe these unhelpful beliefs? I’m confident that with the right mindset he could be rehabilitated and live a better more fulfilled life.
 
Lou B Lou said:
Naomi Harvey just tweeted:





"I’ve already had a reply from Pulse magazine about the training course. They’ve removed the session from the programme while they investigate.

Thank you @KSchnickelfritz for the [letter] template!"








"And a reply from the editor in chief:

“Hi Dr Harvey, I’ve been informed by my events team that we are looking into this. Many thanks, Jaimie”


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It’s a shame they can’t replace it with Nina Muirheads cpd or another one people might recommend here…
 
Here’s the template letter mentioned in the post above, I thought people may like to read it

Dear

I recently became aware of a training module for MECFS in The Pulse magazine, which is a publication for UK GPs. It counts towards CPD and suggests that it will help GPs provide a service to patients with mild to moderate ME under the new NHS Delivery Plan. It takes place on 24 March 2026.

https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/neurology/me-cfs-diagnosis-and-management-among-topics-at-free-pulse-virtual-event-for-gps/

Historically ME patients have been forced into CBT and Graded Exercise Programmes which assumed that patients were frightened of exercise and their illness was caused by inactivity and deconditioning. There is now scientific evidence that this is factually incorrect and that GET harms patients and and can cause a long term relapse.

The evidence based 2021 NICE guidelines state:

1.11.14​

  • any therapy based on physical activity or exercise as a cure for ME/CFS
  • generalised physical activity or exercise programmes – this includes programmes developed for healthy people or people with other illnesses
  • any programme that does not follow the approach in recommendation 1.11.13 or that uses fixed incremental increases in physical activity or exercise, for example, graded exercise therapy (see box 4)
  • physical activity or exercise programmes that are based on deconditioning and exercise avoidance theories as perpetuating ME/CFS.

1.12.32​

  • aims to improve their quality of life, including functioning, and reduce the distress associated with having a chronic illness
  • does not assume people have 'abnormal' illness beliefs and behaviours as an underlying cause of their ME/CFS, but recognises that thoughts, feelings, behaviours and physiology interact with each other.
Dr Alastair Miller will be conducting the training. He is a vocal proponent of the Bio Psycho Social (BPS) model of MECFS. It’s a theory that the illness is both biological and psychological. This can be true for all diseases; that they have a biological and psychological component. Unfortunately we don’t have any effective biological treatments for ME, so the focus of BPS treatment programmes is entirely on psychological approaches without treating the biological illness. These are the same treatments that the NICE guidelines found to be ineffectual at best and harmful at worst. (Imagine having cancer or a broken leg without treatment and being told that you have unhelpful illness beliefs and need to increase your activity to feel better. It’s not just unhelpful, it harms us as we cannot recover normally after exercise and it makes us sicker.)

Here is a link to an article that Dr Miller wrote last year where he contradicts the evidence based NICE guidelines.

https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r977

Please can you contact whoever is responsible for overseeing NHS training and ask them whether this CPD module for GPs is going to adhere to the new guidelines? Or is it going to contradict them and perpetuate misinformation and continue the harm to patients? If it is the latter then I expect them to take action and stop this module taking place.

Many thanks
 
Lou B Lou said:
Alastair Miller, 2025:

"It is essential that those affected by MECFS are aware that full recovery is possible whatever the severity of the condition notwithstanding the negative messages propagated by some organisations and websites"



measussex.org.uk

Recovery - Dr Alastair Miller - Sussex & Kent ME/CFS Society

Recovery from illness is an important concept that implies an individual has achieved the same state of health, function and well-being that they enjoyed prior to the illness or event that made them unwell. Both physical and psychological aspects of health are involved. Recovery may be partial...
measussex.org.uk measussex.org.uk

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Why would I listen to him, he’s not someone who has ever recovered from it.
 
bobbler said:
Agreed. The event is on 24th March and the me/cfs session isn’t the only talk that’s insightful on the agenda (the first one about chronic pain says 'how to naivgate the biopsychosocial maze with confidence' in the strapline vs there is a talk on AI use in chronic disease management) - the description at the top talks about better implementing bps

So I think it and then that specific talk is perhaps worth a thread of its own if pulse us as heeded to/used as the official word for GPs (so a way to distribute new policy and protocol) as I get the impression
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Hi. thanks to moderators for making it another thread, I’m on weird sleeping hours at the moment so just caught up, really wishing I know how to archive web pages!! Does any one think anyone else did managed to? My memory is too bad to quote it accurately, fed up because don’t think I was overreacting in my shock and worry at what they were implying- specifically about it being ‘proper’ training and closely linked to the plan, the template letter is good but doesn’t cover what we’ve been talking about Bacme on other threads, which I think is the bigger threat right now, can jonathon Edwards send his letter to someone at pulse? Can I may be but a link to the letter on twitter/bluesky so others can be more aware of what they are know trying to get away with? Ive noticed the Bacme guides are not getting anywhere near enough attention
 
Long Covid Advocacy on Bluesky with picture of the response from Pulse:

We had a prompt response from Pulse Today this morning stating they are investigating & have temporarily removed the program by Miller. We hope they do the right thing

Thank you to all who mobilised swiftly on this esp
@kschnickelfritz.bsky.social

@michaeltikus.bsky.social
Naomi Harvey & MEFoggyDog

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