Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 4 November 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 November 1998. It was answered by Baroness Jowell (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 November 1998 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of research funded by his Department into ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been carried out by psychologists and psychiatrists.

Answer: Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of research funded by his Department into ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been carried out by psychologists and psychiatrists. [58742] Ms Jowell: Management of much of the research supported by the National Health Service research and development levy is devolved and details are not collected routinely by the Department. Information which is available centrally shows that the NHS R&D Programme has been funding a research project entitled "Should GPs manage chronic fatigue syndrome? A controlled trial", which has now reported. The lead researcher for this project was a General Practitioner. Further work is about to be commissioned through competitive tender on the topic of "Management Strategies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". The Medical Research Council funded one study in relation to myalgic encephalomyelitis which has recently been completed. The work was undertaken at the University of Manchester and the project was entitled "The role of noradrenaline in the neuropsychological pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome". This project was led by a psychiatrist.

Secondary information