🧵 (long!) justice4me.uk update: sent to donors yesterday: "Having taken legal advice, thanks to your donations, we have instructed our lawyers to proceed with a letter before claim to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This does not mean there will be a claim (an application to 1/10
justice4me.uk
the court for Judicial Review of the Final Delivery Plan for ME/cfs) it means there are inconsistencies within the Plan that make it vulnerable to legal challenge. We doubt this vulnerability is what was intended in the drafting of the Plan because we know people with ME/cfs have had cross 2/10 party political support for decades. Decades of political support that has still not made a difference. We also know hundreds of people contributed their medical knowledge, lived experience and technical expertise to developing a Plan for ME, initiated by Sir Sajid Javid in May 2022, so we hope 3/10 these snags will be resolved without a court hearing being necessary. People living with ME deserve nothing less. The NHS staff trying their best to deliver safe clinical care without clear, succinct, safe clinical guidance to follow, deserve better support on ME from their employer. If the 4/10 reply from DHSC to our letter is not satisfactory, and the inconsistencies we have identified in the Final Delivery Plan persist, we must apply for Judical Review by 21 October at the latest. At this stage, we cannot share the advice we have been given with anyone, but we will explain every- 5/10 thing at [the] very first opportunity. This is frustrating for us because transparency is so important when the stakes are so high for everyone with this life threatening condition. If the case comes to court the legal arguments will be made public that way but we hope the DHSC will make the 6/10 changes needed sooner. These changes are not huge, they are about eliminating contradictions and will not cost the NHS any more money than is currently being wasted on catastrophic mismanagement of ME. Your generosity has made this first step possible. Thank you for sharing your time, comments 7/10 and money with our cause. We could not have got so far without your help. Now that our case is defined under what is possible in law, more updates will follow in the coming weeks. Please continue sharing this campaign with everyone you know, however unlikely! Having met the initial fundraising 8/10 target in our launch week, the CrowdJustice campaign will continue throughout October. We have only one third of our target to raise to follow through with this first step. Thank you for helping make #Justice4ME a genuine proposition. Imagine the NHS knowing what to do about ME without any 9/10 doubt, indecision or delays - all over the UK. It should be a reality, we want to help the DHSC be proud of making it exactly that. More to follow!!" Blimey. So there is a case to answer in law. For a Government dedicated to the international rules based order, that cannot be good news. 10/10