§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recommendations have been made by the Chief Medical Officer to treat symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis. [113797]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 19 May 2003]The Chief Medical Officer has made no recommendations for treatment of this condition. We are, however, taking steps to improve services for patients with this condition. I refer the honourable Member to the response I gave him on Monday 19 May,Official Report, columns 610–11W, for information on the research initiatives, which will be looking at the effectiveness of various treatments to improve services for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
I announced funding of £8.5 million on 12 May to develop services for people with CFS/ME. In July, health organisations will be invited to bid for 370W development funds to set up centres of expertise to develop clinical care, support clinical research and expand education and training programmes for health care professionals and to establish satellite community multidisciplinary teams. The first phase of development will commence in April 2004.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to recruit specialists to whom GPs can refer patients with symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis; and if he will make a statement. [113798]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 19 May 2003]Decisions on the staffing configuration for treating particular patient groups, including those with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ ME), are best made at a local level.
We are however, taking steps to improve services for patients with CFS/ME. I announced funding of £8.5 million on 12 May to develop services for people with CFS/ME.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) published a research strategy for CFS/ME on 1 May. The strategy will enable researchers and funders to develop research proposals on all aspects of this illness. It was developed by an independent research advisory group in response to a request from the Chief Medical Officer and was informed by contributions from patients, carers, charities, researchers and clinicians via a consultation exercise in summer 2002.
The MRC has announced two initiatives in response to the strategy. One is a notice to the research community welcoming high quality proposals across the entire spectrum of CFS/ME research. The other is a scientific meeting to discuss the potential to use existing United Kingdom resources and infrastructures to undertake epidemiological studies in this country. In addition, the MRC has just announced funding, on 15 May 2003, for two trials that will look at the effectiveness of various treatments for CFS/ME. The results of these trials will help patients and their doctors to choose the best treatment. These complementary trials will assess a variety of treatments and in doing so will both help address important issues for those with CFS/ME.
The first trial, known as PACE—Pacing, Activity and Cognitive behaviour therapy: a randomised Evaluation—will make the first assessment of a treatment choice popular with patients called Pacing. The second trial, known as FINE—Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation—will test two different treatments that are particularly suited to helping reach those who are too ill to attend a specialist clinic as patients will be treated by nurses in their own homes.