METRIC (UK) Royal College of GPs' online course on ME/CFS

Edit:But reviewed Feb 2015
I thought I saw one version that indicated it had been reviewed in 2018. But now I can't find that version. Did anyone else see that, or did I make it up?

Added: Found it. Here is the version that indicates it was reviewed in April 2018:

http://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=93

And yet it still quotes PACE as if nothing has changed in the last three years. What a joke.
 
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An alternative training put together by more knowledgeable people would be amazing. But we need to be extremely careful that it doesn't present interesting but wobbly biomedical research as hard proven fact.... Declaring that "ME is a neuroimmune/metabolic/whatever disorder" ... as none of that is comprehensively proven yet.... we just don't know.... there are some interesting leads, but we don't know for sure , & it needs to say that, or it will do more much harm than good.

It'd be marvellous if it could tell the GPS that its fine to not know & perfectly fine to tell their patients that too!

Yes, I think that is crucial. As soon as any doubtful claims go in it can be shot down in half a minute by the usual 'advisors'. It needs to stick to solid evidence - which at present is almost all negative.
 
Sorry to keep on about this, but NICE review has referenced the following too.

A review that does not take that into account is absurd.

NHSHEALTHAND WORK.org stuff.

( My emphasis)

The newly uploaded website states,

"Information for healthcare professionals, employers and employees providing the current evidence on managing and supporting employees with chronic fatigue syndrome."

This had a review date booked in 2011 and it was never done.
 
Have you talked to any major MEpedia contributors or developers on this? It might be that we would need more editorial control than is generally wiki-friendly.

We would definitely need to work with them, to have editor-level rights for some at least and anyway this should be a coordinated effort so the more participation we have the better it will turn out. I haven't put more thought than this yet, just adding on recent comments that suggest it would be a worthwhile project and that it's the best medium I can think of.
 
Thanks @EspeMor for your reply. I hear what you are saying but can I just clarify are you saying that the MPs had information on the actual bps content of the GP online training module? Thank you.

Heya!

The MPs were fully briefed and even while we cannot foresee what sort of discussions might take place during a HOC debate, we tried our best to brief them on these aspects. As you can see from our briefing, we were very very clear on the necessary definitions and distinctions re BPS :) Most (most!!) of the chamber did understand this and therefore, made their statements :)
 
Metric Page 27 said:
Set-backs or relapses are common in people with CFS/ME. Factors which may exacerbate CFS/ME include:
  • Recurring viral or bacterial infections
  • Not being active enough, or being too active
  • Stress
  • Poor diet
  • Being socially isolated
  • Feeling frustrated or depressed
Please visit the Resources section to view the Action for ME booklet on pacing.
Since when does not being active make ME worse? That list really makes it sound as if they are framing ME as a mental illness. Also note that there's no mention of relapses lasting years or being permanent, it's as if they are trying to erase severe ME as a physical illness.
 
They have already framed CFS/ME as being a mental illness at the start (as in the post by @DigitalDrifter)

"I don’t really want to make the diagnosis because I don’t feel there’s an awful lot of help I can give them."

"I’m rather cautious about making the diagnosis until it’s very clear that you’ve excluded other causes. I’d want to check that they’re not depressed or anxious or in a state of secondary gain."

The other causes could be that they are "depressed or anxious" or malingerers in "secondary gain" - this puts the idea in the head of GPs that other causes are likely to be psych ones or malingering dishonesty.

They are also being told that there is little that they can do to help.

GP's are being taught in this section at the start that the module to fix these ideas in their head for the rest.
 
They are also being told that there is little that they can do to help

I'm so sick of this argument. It's a thought-terminating cliché. There are hundreds of health problems for which there is no help, some with minimal impact, some terminal. It's not a real issue. The only rational response is to help with the impact and do research, which is what is usually done, not sabotage an entire disease over an ego trip.

Of course it only makes sense from the perspective of treating it as a condition in which the only problem is a false belief that one has a disease, which is exactly why this argument is made. It's conversion disorder that pretends it's not. That's completely unethical and guaranteed disaster when it is done with zero accountability.
 
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