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Written question asked by Desmond Turner (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 February 2006. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Monday, 6 March 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Chronic Fatigue Services

Question
(3) what criteria were used in assessing applications from primary care trusts (PCTs) for funding in 2005–06 to establish new NHS chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis services; and if she will list the PCTs which have established such services;
Answer

Since the announcement of the 8.5 million budget for developing new services for those with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), we have established 13 clinical network co-ordinating centres, 36 local multi-disciplinary teams, as well as 11 specialist children and young people's teams distributed across England. These new centres have been created to provide services for those with CFS/ME where there was no existing provision, each centre covers up to eight primary care trusts.The latest figures show that 8,646 adults and 439 children and young adults have been seen. The new centres are expected to see 21,000 patients annually when working at full capacity.Applications for funding to establish CFS/ME services were assessed by an investment steering group consisting of health professionals, as well as patient and carer representatives. The criteria used by the steering group included strategy and partnership working, the proposed service organisation and staffing structure, as well as the need to ensure an even geographic distribution of centres.Future funding of CFS/ME services will be included within the resource allocations to primary care trusts to facilitate the continuation of the service once the ring-fenced period ends. CFS/ME services will therefore be considered as part of the future local planning of services.National Health Service organisations are expected to demonstrate that they are making progress towards achieving the level of service quality described in the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions. The NSF sets out a clear vision of how health and social care organisations can improve the quality, consistency and responsiveness of their services and help improve the lives of people with neurological conditions, including CFS/ME. This may include taking steps to ensure the establishment of further CFS/ME centres, if there is a local need.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
53673; 443 c1198-200W;443 c1198-200W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
ME/CFS Health services
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk