Understanding the role of the GP in caring for patients with ME/CFS – volunteers needed

Telephone interviews

A 3rd year medical student at Cardiff University would like to interview 10-20 people about their experience with ME/CFS, either as a patient or close relative/ carer.

The interviews will be semi-structured, and participants will be free to guide the conversation as much as they wish, however there will be some key themes the researcher will ask about. These include:

• diagnosis
• current management plan
• the role of the GP
• support services accessed
• where things could be improved.

Phone calls will be audio recorded and last no longer than 2 hours, though participants may request to complete in more than one session and can withdraw at any time without giving a reason.

Full project title

Understanding the role of the General Practitioner in caring for patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the community.

Aims of the project:

• identify factors that patients view as important to their management in primary care
• look at the current training and support for GPs regarding ME/CFS
• evaluate how this requires improvement
•  make suggestions for future changes or adaptations.

Confidentiality

All recordings will be kept for the six week duration of the research study before being destroyed. All information taken from the interviews will be anonymised including names of healthcare professionals mentioned in your interviews. Files will be stored securely.

Do you want to take part?

Email research supervisor Dr Nina Muirhead with your home address and telephone number   nina.muirhead@nhs.net

You will then be contacted by the research student and a date for the interview will be arranged between 18th and 28th March.

The student’s research report may also be taken to medical conferences or published. You will not be identified in any report or publication and will be able to obtain a copy of the published results by contacting the researcher.

University of Cardiff, School of Medicine   
UHW Main Building, Heath Park
Cardiff       CF14 4XN