UK Fibromyalgia Alliance update

FibroAction, Fibromyalgia Association UK and UK Fibromyalgia agreed at a recent meeting that, although we are all in support of the principles behind the proposed Fibromyalgia Alliance, the practicalities of this initiative would have caused too many logistical issues for all the organisations involved.

However it has focussed a renewed ambition to work more closely, in harmony, towards the aims as laid out by the proposed Alliance.

A consensus to produce an Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) collaboratively and to promote this through the channels of all three organisations, with a view to it being widely adopted, was agreed as the best way forward.

An ICP is a multidisciplinary outline of anticipated care, placed in an appropriate timeframe, to help a patient with fibromyalgia move progressively through a clinical experience to positive outcomes. Within the NHS, ICPs are published in a consistent form through the Map of Medicine, which all NHS staff will have access to. They will also be available through the NHS CHOICES site.

Once we have an approved ICP all three organisations will work to get the Fibromyalgia ICP accepted by the UK medical profession and the NHS. This will probably be through a combination of PCT trials, publicity, events, use of current contacts and the use of the All Party Political Group for Fibromyalgia.

We will update you on the progress of this initiative when we can.