APPG on Fibromyalgia Syndrome Meeting

On Wednesday 18th March, a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fibromyalgia Syndrome was held in the Jubilee Room at the Houses of Parliament.

FibroAction founder and charity, Lindsey Middlemiss, attended the meeting, which had been requested by FMA UK in order to ask MPs for their advice in how to raise awareness of Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Fibro).

The meeting was chaired by Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East, who leads the APPG on Fibromyalgia Syndrome. Amongst the MPs in attendance was Richard Benyon, MP for West Berkshire, where FibroAction is based and the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Wildlife. Richard has been very supportive and it was great that he took time out of his very busy schedule to attend this meeting.

The APPG meeting was a particularly positive and proactive one and it is hoped that a 90 minute debate in the Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament will be secured on Fibromyalgia Syndrome. MPs from the main 3 parties will make speeches and a Government minister will have to attend and respond to the debate.

FibroAction will be helping brief the MPs who have volunteered to kick start the debate as they will need accurate and up-to-date information on the current situation. The MPs present were interested to learn of the NHS Fibro clinics, such as the one at Guy's Hospital, and of NHS Direct updating the online information on Fibro last year thanks to FibroAction, as they had previously been unaware that any progress had been made at all.

Hopefully the debate will be secured and supported. Please make sure that you write to your MP, telling them about how you have struggled with Fibro and asking them to support any debate as well as the APPG on Fibromyalgia Syndrome - or even better, go and see them at their constituency office so that they can put a face to the name.