• Professor Leslie J Findley

  Prof Findley is consultant neurologist and clinical lead at the Essex Neurosciences Unit at Queen's Hospital. He is also clinical lead for the Clinical Network Coordinating Centre overseeing the NHS Kent & Medway CFS/ME Service.

  Prof Findley received his undergraduate medical training at the University of Sheffield, graduating MB, ChB in 1968. Between 1973 and 1981 he undertook postgraduate training in neurology at the Institute of Neurology, London and St Mary's Hospital Medical School. He was appointed consultant neurologist at the Essex Neurosciences Unit in 1981. He was visiting consultant neurologist to Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital until its closure in 1991 and was appointed Professor of Health Sciences (Neurology) at University of London, South Bank in 1996. Prof Findley is the Clinical Director of a referral centre for patients with complex fatigue syndromes of all types. He has contributed to WHO and national guidelines on the subject of diagnosis and management of fatigue syndromes.

• Dr Susie Rockwell

  Dr Susie Rockwell has been an NHS GP since 1992 and is also a GP appraiser. She has been involved with commissioning while sitting as a member of the Professional Executive Committee of Brighton and Hove city PCT. She has an interest in CFS/ME and has been on the steering group involved in setting up the new local service. She has trained in homeopathy at the Royal London Homeopathic hospital and has a small private homeopathic practice.

•  Dr Keith Hine

Dr Keith Hine MD FRCP is an Honorary Consultant Physician at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals. He is a General Physician with a special interest in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. He also has a number of other roles including being an examiner for the General Medical Council Professional and Linguistics Advisory Board and an examiner for the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians. He is also an honorary visiting Professor to the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, India and is on the Governing Body of that Hospital. Dr Hine has had an interest in CFS/ME since his appointment as a consultant in 1984. He is an ex-officio member of the Sussex wide CFS/ME Steering Group and has been a Medical Adviser to the Sussex ME Society since 1986.

• Dr Alan Steward

  Dr Alan Stewart has specialised in a nutritional approach to illness for over the last 20 years since establishing his practice in Sussex in the early 1980's. He qualified from Guy's Hospital in 1976 and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians. He is the author of various popular books on nutrition, including "Nutritional Medicine" and "Tired all the time". He has particular interests in nutrition, assessment and diagnosis. At present he is writing a series of articles on the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies within the U.K. population as have been detailed in the recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey conducted by the Foods Standards Agency and the Department of Health. The results of this recently reported survey and their relationship to fatigue states will be covered in an in depth article in next quarter's newsletter.

• Dr Mike Broughton

  Dr Mike Broughton qualified from Guy's Hospital in 1979 and after spells working in Canada and New Zealand he became a GP in West Sussex in 1986. He was a GP Trainer and Appraiser before leaving full time General Practice in 2003. He first became interested in CF/ME from 1987 onwards when he saw a series of patients with unexplained fatigue. He worked as Associate Specialist in CFS/ME at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London with Professor Peter White and became Clinical Lead to the Sussex CFS/ME service in September 2005. He believes that CFS/ME is due to a neuro-endocrine disturbance of the central nervous system and that a variety of therapies can be helpful towards recovery.

•  Dr Esther Crawley

Dr Esther Crawley, is a Consultant Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol and a Consultant Paediatrician with a special interest in CFS/ME. She is the clinical lead for Bath specialist CFS/ME service for children based at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath which currently provides assessment and treatment for over 200 children and young people per annum.

Dr Crawley completed her medical training in Oxford, and then worked in Birmingham and Liverpool before doing her PhD at University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Esther then moved to Bristol and Bath and set up the paediatric CFS/ME service.

Dr Crawley is a medical advisor to the Association of young people with ME, was Chair of the British Association for CFS/ME (BACME, 2007-2010). She set up the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health special interest group for CFS/ME, was on the guideline development group for the NICE guidelines published in August 2007 and the MRC CFS/ME expert working group (2009-2010).

• Dr Gabrielle Murphy

Gabrielle Murphy is a specialist physician working in the Department of Immunity and Inflammation at the Royal Free Hospital in London. She is Clinical Lead of the Fatigue Service at The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, and also works part-time in HIV medicine. Gabrielle began working in fatigue with Professor Tony Pinching at St Bartholomew's Hospital in 2000 and then moved to the Free to re-open the service there. She has been an executive member of the CFS/ME network since 2002 (now BACME), hosted the 2003 and 2005 Conferences, and was Chair of the organisation for 2004-2005. 

Yoga classes for ME/CFS

A yoga class for ME/CFS sufferers has been running in Hove since 1995. We meet once a week at 2.30pm on a Monday afternoon. The venue is the Cornerstone community centre at St John’s Church in Church Road. Each class tends to comprise of three sections. We begin with a period of relaxation, with emphasis placed on deepening the breath. This can achieve calmness and greater peace of mind.

The Sussex ME/CFS Society is a constituted registered charity that works with the national patient organisations Action for ME and Association for Young People with ME.

Our aim is to disseminate information, and give support through newsletters, meetings and telephone contacts. We receive regular support from the local authorities, businesses and trusts.