About Us
The British Association of Clinicians in ME/CFS (BACME) is a multidisciplinary organisation for UK professionals who are involved in the delivery of clinically effective services for patients with ME/CFS.
BACME was formed in October 2009 and was called The British Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. It was formed as a merger between the CFS/ME Therapists Network and the Clinical Network Co-coordinating Centres National Collaborative. The aim of these networks was to encourage health professionals to share and develop clinical practice in the assessment and treatment of CFS/ME. BACME’s primary aim has always been to support professionals from any discipline and across any area of health in the UK to improve care for people with this debilitating condition.
In January 2021 BACME became a registered charity and in 2022 BACME changed its name to The British Association of Clinicians in ME/CFS.
What we do
BACME’s charitable objective is:
The relief of sickness for the public benefit by:
- Championing clinically effective practice in treating ME/CFS and other primary fatigue conditions
- Disseminating of recent evidence and practice to clinical practitioners
- Providing education and training for members respecting up-to-date evidence and best shared practice
- Advocating for equity of access and excellence in the provision of services
- Facilitating networking amongst clinicians, researchers and patients
- Advocating for and promoting relevant research and to publish all useful results arising from any research supported.
View our constitution BACME Position Paper BACME Annual report 2020/2021
Governance
BACME is governed by a board of trustees. The BACME Board has a minimum of 10 and maximum of 20 trustees including 8 Executive Board positions and up to 12 non-executive trustees.
The executive board roles are:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Communications and Information lead
- Training and Education lead
- Research lead
- Patient and Public Involvement lead
BACME members are eligible to apply for a trustee position once they have been a member for at least 6 months. Applications to Executive Board positions are voted for by members.
The BACME Board meet on a regular basis and our focus is on providing information, resources and training to our members. In addition we look for opportunities to produce documents which are available publicly that can be used to help facilitate the delivery of high quality care to people living with ME/CFS.
The BACME Board includes several people who have lived experience of the condition and we have a Patient and Public Involvement role on the Executive Board to ensure that people living with ME/CFS are kept at the centre of all that BACME does.
BACME serves to represent our members at a national level. This includes working collaboratively with other organisations including ME/CFS patient charities, NICE and other professional organisations.
The majority of the BACME Board are busy clinicians who provide their time on a voluntary basis.
