United Kingdom News (including UK wide, England, NI and Wales - see separate thread for news from Scotland)

England only: Social Work England is under independent review. Evidence is being sought from everyone. I strongly recommend every family who has experienced persecution by social workers gives evidence.
Evidence to provide is, for example, did they refer to NICE G206? Did they include you in a ‘person-centred’ assessment about the level of care your pwME needs to accommodate PEM, ie not a made up story to fit their own agenda? Did they assess your own need as a carer to remain in employment, education or training? Did they assess your own need to have contact with other family? Did they assess your own need to maintain a habitable home?
www.gov.uk

Independent review of social work regulation: call for evidence

We want to hear from social workers, training providers and people with experience of social work as part of the independent review of social work regulation.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

The above link has been shared with me by Maeve's Mum.

It closes at 11.55 this Weds 26 Nov
 
observer.co.uk

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

observer.co.uk observer.co.uk
The author, a doctor who treated Covid patients, denounces current attempts to downplay the government’s failures during the pandemic. She recalls how frontline staff sounded warnings weeks before the first lockdown, while leaders hesitated despite clear evidence from abroad and escalating hospital crises at home. Baroness Hallett’s inquiry rightly highlights that this delay cost thousands of lives. Scientific advisers also misjudged the situation, supporting a belief in behavioural fatigue and an assumption that mass infection was inevitable, which fed early talk of herd immunity. While difficult decisions were unavoidable, the government’s inertia contrasted starkly with the courage of NHS workers who faced extreme conditions with inadequate protection. Instead of addressing these failings, Boris Johnson now distracts and reframes the debate, showing little compassion for the huge loss of life. The author insists these deaths were real, preventable, and unforgettable for those who witnessed them.
 
Dolphin said:
A recording is now up here:

Parliamentlive.tv

Westminster Hall
www.parliamentlive.tv www.parliamentlive.tv
and
Click to expand...

ME Research UK:

"Despite the devastating toll of the condition, people with ME have endured decades of substandard and sometimes downright unsafe healthcare, with pitifully little funding for research. In spite of the lack of robust evidence to this effect, ME is treated as though the condition is psychiatric." - Tessa Munt MP at yesterday's Westminster Hall debate. Read the gist of proceedings in quotes - https://tinyurl.com/mw5nek48
 
Dolphin said:
A recording is now up here:

Parliamentlive.tv

Westminster Hall
www.parliamentlive.tv www.parliamentlive.tv
and
Click to expand...

AfME FB:

Yesterday, MPs gathered in Westminster Hall to debate government support for people with ME and what needs to change. We’ve pulled together a summary of the key points, actions, and commitments discussed, using AI to assist in summarising the Westminster Hall debate transcript.

Thank you to Tessa Munt for her continued commitment to the ME community, and to all the MPs who attended. We were pleased to hear MPs referencing points made in our briefing.

Read the AI summary here: https://www.actionforme.org.uk/ai-summary-of-westminster-hall-debate/

#MECFS #pwME #MyalgicE #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #WestminsterHall #Debate
 
This reminds me of a story in the US where a kid was praised for working many many hours selling homemade items to pay off the school lunch debt of other children.

«Look, someone did something extraordinary that was only necessary due to an extraordinarily cruel and inhumane system that they are forced to live in.»
 
Utsikt said:
This reminds me of a story in the US where a kid was praised for working many many hours selling homemade items to pay off the school lunch debt of other children.

«Look, someone did something extraordinary that was only necessary due to an extraordinarily cruel and inhumane system that they are forced to live in.»
Click to expand...
There’s a whole reddit community dedicated to this type of absurdity ahah.
(Link)
(Link to Private Trackerless front-end)
 
www.bbc.com

Closure of Mid Essex long Covid service criticised by charities - BBC News

A charity says the condition is "chronically under-researched, misunderstood and under-resourced".
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Short BBC article.

AI Summary:
Long Covid patients in Mid and South Essex warn they are being abandoned after the region’s only specialist service, including clinics and a mobile outreach bus, lost NHS funding and is set to close on 28 February 2026. The care board said referrals had dropped and most patients recovered within four to nine months, a claim challenged by campaigners who cite evidence of longer-lasting symptoms.

Patients like Antony Loveless say the service was essential and fear GPs cannot replace its expertise. GP Sharon Hadley also argued that general practice is too strained to provide equivalent support.

Charities including Long Covid SOS and Long Covid Support criticised the closure as based on misconceptions and warned it risks leaving vulnerable people without expert help.

NHS leaders insist patients will still receive care through GP referrals, while another regional trust has maintained specialist services by merging them with ME and chronic fatigue clinics.
 
Chandelier said:
www.bbc.com

Closure of Mid Essex long Covid service criticised by charities - BBC News

A charity says the condition is "chronically under-researched, misunderstood and under-resourced".
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...
I remember looking into this one earlier in the pandemic and it was one of those offering exercise and didn't take severely impacted patients at all. That whole region seems to be one of the bad ones from the DecodeME prevalence study and their ME services have been called out for not being NICE compliant a bunch of times on their website and various training modules as well. I don't think it was one of the good ones. Still when the GP knows absolutely nothing and wont diagnose a thing the Long Covid clinic that will give you the label is infinitely better even if it does very little else of use and might harm you.
 
Welsh debate feedback from MEResearch

ME research note an interesting amendment to the motion. An extract from their summary:

“However, Mr Price also asked for an amendment at the end of point 4 namely to “develop a strategic approach to research by supporting Wales to host one of the five proposed UK hubs for collaborative translational research into pathological mechanisms that cause ME, long COVID and related post-acute infection conditions.””
 
(Paywall)

3000-word article in The Telegraph.

AI Summary:

‘I Think I Will Mask Forever’: Inside the Zero Covid Movement​

While the rest of the world has moved on from the pandemic, a minority continue to shape their lives around coronavirus avoidance​


While most societies have moved on from the pandemic, a small but vocal minority continues to organise their lives around avoiding Covid. Central to the article is Alyson Hardwick, a 34-year-old student in Toronto whose views hardened after a friend died from coronavirus in 2022. Immersing herself in “Covid-cautious” social media, she became convinced that ongoing infections are causing widespread death and disability. She now wears N95 or N99 respirator masks, avoids indoor spaces, and socialises almost exclusively online or with similarly cautious people.

Hardwick’s experience reflects a broader “zero Covid” movement, active mainly in North America and Europe, which believes mass infection remains an ongoing crisis. Many adherents are not immunocompromised but fear long Covid or transmitting the virus to others. Online forums and social media serve as support networks as friendships, families and marriages fracture over differing risk tolerance. Masking is framed as a moral duty and an act of care, with some activists equating refusal to mask with violence or eugenics.

The movement has cultural expressions, including Covid-safe social events, theatre, dating discussions, and enthusiasm for advanced mask technology. Some members adopt extensive personal routines, from air filtration to nasal rinses. However, internal dissent exists, with former supporters arguing that precautions have become disproportionate and socially damaging.

Scientists quoted in the article state that Covid is now endemic, that long Covid is real but rarer than often claimed, and that masks have limited impact at population level. They argue that continued extreme measures reflect value judgments rather than scientific consensus.

Despite this, figures like Hardwick remain committed to lifelong masking, frequent boosters, and limited contact, believing society is in denial while they are responding rationally to enduring risk.
Click to expand...
 

‘I think I will mask forever’: The ‘zero Covid’ zealots refusing to re-enter society​

While the rest of the world has moved on from the pandemic, a minority continue to shape their lives around coronavirus avoidance'


Accessible Archive link



This is a gratuitous article ridiculing and stigmatising mask wearing, and by extension further stigmatising people with health vulnerabilities who protect themselves by masking.
 
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IMG_0529.jpeg
In order: GP consultations, sick leave from work, and deaths in Norway.
Grey: pre-covid. Purple: few covid infections. Red: many covid infections. Black: expected trends based on pre-pandemic levels.

I wonder why someone believes that covid is still an issue..

Graph from Norwegian debate provided by Richard Aubrey White.
 
UK Long Covid trend set of posts
x.com/i/trending/2001650247227896031
Click to expand...
NHS Nurse Marks One Year Since Long COVID Job Loss

Last updated Dec 18

The former learning disability nurse from Bradford shared how the condition ended his career and reshaped his life, leaving him utterly exhausted just by being alive. Green Party leader Zack Polanski called for proper government investment in treatments as specialist clinics face cuts and national funding ends in April 2025. Affecting about two million people in the UK with symptoms like extreme fatigue and muscle pain, Long COVID highlights ongoing patient hardships amid mixed views and growing calls for support.
 
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