11 March 2010
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on M.E. has published a press release and its final report on its Inquiry into NHS services for people with M.E./CFS.
The inquiry set out to evaluate the extent to which the NHS is providing care for people with M.E. in England, particularly in primary and secondary care, and in specialist centres/teams.
Sir Peter Spencer, CEO, Action for M.E., has said:
"The eleven recommendations in this interim report are welcome.
"There may not be anything that is particularly new here but together these recommendations form a powerful re-statement of the compelling need for improvement and for consistency throughout England in providing high quality healthcare to all people with M.E.
"Action for M.E. supports the emphasis on meeting the particular needs of children and the severely affected.
"We welcome the focus on training in M.E. for medical students, GPs and other healthcare professionals. And we strongly agree with the importance attached to biomedical research."
Commenting on two recommendations in particular, Sir Peter added:
(Recommendation 1): "Establishing accurate estimates of people with M.E. is a major challenge. The pilot disease register which has been developed within the M.E. Observatory with money from the Big Lottery Fund could be expanded to play a significant role in this aspect of the needs assessment within each catchment area of the NHS."
(Recommendation 4): "In remedying the lack of consistency in treatment options offered in different PCTs, the D of H, SHAs and PCTs should address regional variations in both quantity and quality; they should also implement the Government’s commitment to patient choice with treatments tailored to each patient’s specific needs and preferences."
Finally, Sir Peter welcomed the assurances given by Des Turner MP that this report will now be sent to all those Ministers in Government and their Government departments who have a part to play in responding to the recommendations; to all the professional institutions that set the training requirements for health professionals; to the Medical Research Council; to all Primary Care Trusts in England and to the members of the Health Select Committee. He added – “As Minster Mike O’Brien stated publicly, this is a landmark report. We must therefore ensure that its recommendations are acted upon“.
