FibroAction Becomes Information Standard Accredited

A statement from FibroAction founder & chair, Lindsey Middlemiss:

I am delighted to announce that FibroAction has been successful in its application to become an Information Standard accredited information provider.

The Information Standard scheme was developed by the Department of Health to help the public identify trustworthy health and social care information easily. At the heart of the scheme is the standard itself – a set of criteria that defines good quality health or social care information and the methods needed to produce it. To achieve the standard, organisations have to show that their processes and systems produce information that is:
•accurate
•impartial
•balanced
•evidence-based
•accessible
•well-written.

For more information on the Information Standard, please see The Information Standard Website.

Making up-to-date evidence-based information about Fibro more readily accessible has been a core aim for FibroAction since its inception. The accreditation with the Information Standard proves that our information on Fibro is good and will be of help when trying to reach more healthcare professionals, especially within the NHS.

The accreditation process was very tough and I am grateful for the help provided, not just by the Board of FibroAction, but also from volunteers, PAB members and my own family, to enable the work to be done.

The accreditation is only really the start. Over the next year, you can expect to see our About Fibro information thoroughly reviewed and further information resources will also be produced. All information resources reviewed or produced under our new Information Production System, which fall within the Scope of the Information Standard for FibroAction, will carry the Information Standard Quality Mark.

We will also be reviewing and updating the FibroAction website, and you can expect to see some old and outdated sections of the website start disappearing shortly, as well as new sections being brought in.

As part of the new Information Production System, we are formalising how people help us with information provision and are bringing new volunteers onto our team. We had an excellent response to our request for volunteer lay reviewers, but are still looking for further volunteer Resource Writers and volunteer Researchers to bring on board in the future. These volunteers are needed to help us with the more time-consuming work of going through the published research, and seeking expert and patient contributions, to form the evidence basis for our Information resources. I am hoping to get more information about these roles on the website soon, but if you have a good understanding of the importance of evidence based information and attention to detail, and feel you would like to help in either of these roles, please do contact me via info@fibroaction.org.

I'm really excited about what this news means for FibroAction and for Fibro, now and in the future.

~Lindsey Middlemiss