NICE are looking for a chair for the ME/CFS guideline committee

[Andy]

We are looking for a chair for the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/ chronic fatigue syndrome guideline committee.
Closing date: 5pm, Friday 26 January 2018.
Time commitment: 30 months
We are looking for:

a chair with previous experience of committee work in a relevant setting, and of chairing multidisciplinary committees.

Important: If you have a specific conflict of interest, we may not be able to take your application any further. This includes financial or non-financial interests, whether personal, family or non-personal. Make sure you have read our policy before you apply.

Any questions? Contact Norma O'Flynn at norma.oflynn@rcplondon.ac.uk.

https://www.nice.org.uk/get-involved/join-a-committee/chair--diagnosis-and-management-cfs-me-gc

Any volunteers??

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

It looks as if you cannot apply if you have ANY opinion on ME/CFS: Under conflict of interest:

• Personal non-financial interest
  
  29.A personal non-financial interest in the matters under consideration refers to an opinion on the matters under consideration published in the 12 months before joining an advisory committee or during the period of membership of an advisory committee.
  
  30. Examples include:

•  A clear opinion, reached as the conclusion of a research project, about the clinical and/or cost effectiveness of an intervention under review.
  
  
•  A published statement in which the individual has expressed a clear opinion about the matter under consideration, which could reasonably be interpreted as prejudicial to an objective interpretation of the evidence.
  
  
•  Authoring or co-authoring a document submitted as an evidence publication to a NICE advisory committee.
  
  
•  Holding office in a professional organisation (see Definitions for an explanation of ‘professional organisations’), charity or advocacy group with a direct interest in the matter under consideration.
  
  
•  Other reputational risks in relation to a matter under review.
  
  This clearly seems to disqualify anyone who holds a positive view about poor research but it also seems to rule out people like me!
  
  Let's hope there awesome helpful people who will be attracted by this request.

Edit: spellchecker gets brimmed and barmier (see that! can't remember what I actually wrote) but this time it showed some creativity. It should have been ... are some helpful people

• Edit:

 

[Milo]

Sorry i couldn’t resist: what kind of chair, a laz-y-boy, a lawn chair or an electric chair?

 

[BurnA]

This clearly seems to disqualify anyone who holds a positive view about poor research but it also seems to rule out people like me!

Which rule would exclude you specifically?

 

[large donner]

Which rule would exclude you specifically?

The blue cardigan rule.

 

[Hoopoe]

Which rule would exclude you specifically?

I think all of these

A published statement in which the individual has expressed a clear opinion about the matter under consideration, which could reasonably be interpreted as prejudicial to an objective interpretation of the evidence.

Writing that PACE is junk science in the JHP special issue.

Authoring or co-authoring a document submitted as an evidence publication to a NICE advisory committee.

I'm pretty sure the JHP special issue will be considered. It should be at least.

Holding office in a professional organisation (see Definitions for an explanation of ‘professional organisations’), charity or advocacy group with a direct interest in the matter under consideration.

Advisor to IiME would probably exclude someone.

Anyway, this sounds like a very good development. NICE may have finally understood that there is a serious problem of bias in this area.

 

[BurnA]

Yes, I was just thinking that it couldn't be reasonably interpreted as prejudicial to an objective interpretation of the evidence.

 

[Robert 1973]

It looks as if you cannot apply if you have ANY opinion on ME/CFS: Under conflict of interest:

We can be fairly certain that Wessely et al will be trying to persuade their establishments chums without previous involvement in ME/CFS to apply for the role. I hope Jonathan and others on our side will be going through their contacts too. It could all depend on the chair, and if it's a Wessely stooge we're all doomed.

Can you think of anyone who might be worth approaching, Jonathan?

 

[Sly Saint]

I emailed David Marks to ask for his help:


eta: he's pinned it

 

[Esther12]

I wonder who Wessely et al. are hoping to get in there?

I'd have thought that a lot of his natural allies would be less than enthusiastic about taking it on at this point.

 

[Sly Saint]

Would John Bercow be excluded (as Patron of MEA) ?
Hopefully Charles Shepherd has put out some feelers.........?