Action For ME Healthcare Services

This seems like a positive development (apologies if this has already been posted, I did look but couldn't find it anywhere).

https://www.actionforme.org.uk/get-support-now/our-healthcare-services/healthcare-services-for-me/

 

Dr Anna Barham? What happened to Dr Claire Taylor?

 

Also anyone know if their Doctor can actually prescribe now?

 

https://www.drclairetaylor.com/

 

Thanks. I know where she is I just wondered why she isn’t with action for ME anymore?

 

Curious if anyone has seen Dr. Barham through AfME since she joined?

I've got a follow-up appointment on Tuesday (saw Dr. Worthley and Dr. Taylor previously in the ME Trust days), so can report back if it helps folks.

 

I've had a video appointment with Dr Barham. She was excellent, good understanding of M.E., didn't rush me, extremely thorough, comprehensive report.

AfME's admin is dire though, slow, unresponsive and unhelpful. Don't expect anything to happen in a hurry.

 

Thanks, good to hear that she knows her stuff.

The reports I got previously (MET) were excellent, very thorough, so, is good to hear that they've kept that up (the medical side of AfME is basically MET led from what I recall, so, hopefully they will be able to maintain the quality that many of us got accustomed to). I've only got 30 mins with her, so will only get so much depth this time round, but I'm good with that.

I've been waiting about 18 months for the follow-up appointment, so if it takes them a while to send me an invoice, I'll survive .

Will be interesting to see what frequency of appointments they offer going forwards..

 

The invoices seem to be sent on a monthly cycle, so you might get it quickly (or not) depending on the date of your appointment.

Sorry not to be clear, I meant AfME are slow to respond to messages and to send out reports. It's such a shame as the MET were great, and they have been swallowed up by AfME, who have a totally different ethos.

 

Just updating on this. It's good to be able to echo the experience that @Daisy had of Dr. Barham.

Had my appointment a couple of weeks back now and she was very knowledgeable, made clear that time was not a pressure (despite all the emails re the booking saying 30 mins MAX).

Mine was a follow-on appointment from the previous session with Dr. Taylor, but we spent time going over what I wanted from the time and then discussed what I needed to cover. She made a number of practical suggestions, reassured me that I was doing ok with my management approach and had produced a letter to cover that and positioning it as I needed. Spent best part of an hour with her on Zoom, which was somewhat ruinous, but worthwhile.

It's good to see this part of the ME Trust being able to carry on the great work it was doing as part of AfME. And, in the absence of a local ME service (mine appears to have closed fairly recently - without any notification to me that the referral will have lapsed), I don't begrudge an £80 fee for the time - but, acknowledge that not everyone will be able to afford this.

I don't always post positive things on here, but, for once I can do so and hope it helps other who may have been considering seeking an appointment with AfME. Would recommend, based on my experience.

 

Annoyingly, I've just heard from AfME that Dr. Barham is 'taking a break' in the new year. Trying to find out what that means in reality.

Am gutted, having had two really good appointments with her, I'll likely be back to square one with a new doctor.