The Department, together with NHS England, has developed an e-learning programme to help support healthcare professionals in the treatment and care of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The programme consists of four modules, three of which have universal access, while the fourth is targeted at healthcare professionals. This programme includes two modules on ‘Managing Severe ME/CFS’, which also covers very severe ME/CFS, and the second version of this module for healthcare professionals addresses clinical approaches to severe and very severe ME/CFS. The e-learning is available at the following link:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288

This e-learning, while not mandatory, is expected to support healthcare professionals, including in hospitals, deliver the right care for patients with severe and very severe ME/CFS. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS, including in hospitals, which are expected to be taken fully into account.

Additionally, ME/CFS: the final delivery plan, published in July 2025, included an action to consider whether a specialised service should be commissioned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS.

The Department, together with NHS England, has developed an e-learning programme to help support healthcare professionals in the treatment and care of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The programme consists of four modules, three of which have universal access, while the fourth is targeted at healthcare professionals. This programme includes two modules on ‘Managing Severe ME/CFS’, which also covers very severe ME/CFS, and the second version of this module for healthcare professionals addresses clinical approaches to severe and very severe ME/CFS. The e-learning is available at the following link:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288

This e-learning, while not mandatory, is expected to support healthcare professionals, including in hospitals, deliver the right care for patients with severe and very severe ME/CFS. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS, including in hospitals, which are expected to be taken fully into account.

Additionally, ME/CFS: the final delivery plan, published in July 2025, included an action to consider whether a specialised service should be commissioned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS.

The Department, together with NHS England, has developed an e-learning programme to help support healthcare professionals in the treatment and care of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The programme consists of four modules, three of which have universal access, while the fourth is targeted at healthcare professionals. This programme includes two modules on ‘Managing Severe ME/CFS’, which also covers very severe ME/CFS, and the second version of this module for healthcare professionals addresses clinical approaches to severe and very severe ME/CFS. The e-learning is available at the following link:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288

This e-learning, while not mandatory, is expected to support healthcare professionals, including in hospitals, deliver the right care for patients with severe and very severe ME/CFS. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS, including in hospitals, which are expected to be taken fully into account.

Additionally, ME/CFS: the final delivery plan, published in July 2025, included an action to consider whether a specialised service should be commissioned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS.

Lived experience had an integral role during the development of the final myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) delivery plan. The awareness plan will also require continued support from people with lived experience, and the ME/CFS community, for the distribution and promotion of any materials produced. The campaign will aim to focus on capturing attention and delivering key messages, which will then serve as a gateway to finding more information.

Departmental officials are currently considering how to involve people with lived experience of ME/CFS in the design and delivery of the ME/CFS awareness campaign, in addition to also exploring options for the format of the awareness campaign.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has developed guidance on the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which includes care for people with severe or very severe ME/CFS.

NICE guidelines are evidence-based, informed by clinical expertise, and represent best practice. Although NICE guidelines are not mandatory, healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into account.

The Department is developing a template service specification for mild, moderate, and severe ME/CFS. The template is being developed in consultation with ME/CFS specialists, clinicians, NHS England, people with lived experience, and charity representatives. The template aims to support service providers and commissioners to provide services that meet the needs of their local population.

NHS England has developed an e-learning programme in line with NICE guidelines. The e-learning is comprised of four modules, including on severe ME/CFS, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to commission services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) across all levels of severity, including those with severe and very severe ME/CFS, in line with national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies set by NHS England. Prioritisation and funding remain at the discretion of ICBs.

Officials in the Department and NHS England are currently actively considering whether a specialised service for very severe ME/CFS should be commissioned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. A final decision will not be made until after the abolition of NHS England is complete, in April 2027, when processes will be clearer. This is as a result of potential changes to the legislative process which may occur as a result of transformation in NHS England. Officials continue to progress this action as far as possible ahead of April 2027, so that work can continue at pace following the completion of transformation in NHS England. This could include convening the clinical committee ahead of time.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local populations. This includes provision of specialist services for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. The Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, as with all ICBs, has a statutory obligation to ensure there is sufficient care provision for its population.

The Department recognises that there is variation across integrated care boards (ICBs) in terms of the delivery of services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and that this affects the accessibility of specialist services. ICBs are expected to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations. Where local services are not available, people with symptoms of ME/CFS should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs and symptoms.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of whether the strategic prioritisation for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), is proportionate to the disease burden. However, we recognise that this has been an under researched area and the Government is committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of ME/CFS.

The Government funds research into ME/CFS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation. The NIHR and the MRC are working together to deliver the actions on research in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan. Two projects have recently received funding to investigate the feasibility of a new clinical trial that tests multiple interventions for the treatment of post-acute infection syndromes, including Long Covid and ME/CFS. In addition, £4.75 million of Government funding has been provided to SequenceME, which will create the first high-resolution genetic map of the condition, paving the way to future diagnostics and treatments.

The Government is committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, are working together to address the actions for research outlined in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan. Two projects have recently received funding to investigate the feasibility of a new clinical trial that tests multiple interventions for the treatment of post-acute infection syndromes, including Long Covid and ME/CFS. In addition, £4.75 million of Government funding has been provided to SequenceME, which will create the first high-resolution genetic map of the condition, paving the way to future diagnostics and treatments. To support research capacity building, the MRC has provided £845,000 to researchers at the University of Edinburgh towards PRIME, a new partnership award that aims to build infrastructure to enable ME/CFS biomedical research, and support is available to researchers to develop competitive funding applications from the NIHR’s Research Support Service.

As part of the development of the template service specification for mild and moderate myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which was committed to in the final delivery plan on ME/CFS, published in July 2025, officials have engaged with a sub-group of the ME/CFS post-publication stakeholder engagement group. As part of this engagement, officials from the Department, together with NHS England, have made the decision to include reference to severe ME/CFS in that template service specification based on feedback received from this group. It will also include a reminder that integrated care boards are expected to commission services that meet the needs of the local population, including for all levels of severity of ME/CFS.

There are currently no plans to develop a separate specification for severe and very severe ME/CFS.