Pioneering Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME Service Launches at Barts Hospital

26 September 2006

Hundreds of patients from across London who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME are to benefit from a pioneering treatment centre at Barts Hospital, in the City.

The centre is a unique partnership between three separate Trusts which allows patients to experience an integrated “mind and body” approach involving physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. This marks a change from the more traditional model where patients were treated either by a psychiatrist or a physician.

Under the new service patients who are referred by their GP will be medically assessed by a doctor who is a specialist in CFS/ME in order to reach a diagnosis. Once that has been achieved the team of psychologists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists will provide a programme of rehabilitation therapies designed for the individual patient. A home care service has also been created to assist those patients who are so severely ill they cannot make it to hospital.

In providing the multi-disciplinary service the three Trusts involved, Barts and The London NHS Trust, East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust, and Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust, have achieved a new standard of patient care. Along with 12 other centres in the UK it has been singled out by the Department of Health as a clinical co-ordinating centre with a responsibility to spread its knowledge and expertise on to new and establishing services. For Bart’s this means assisting six recently established services in west and north London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Sussex, covering a population of over 7 million people.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a chronic illness that affects around 1 in 250 people and includes men, women and children of all ages and social and ethnic backgrounds. The illness can last for years and the most common symptoms are persistent, extreme fatigue, especially after exertion, muscle and joint pain, headaches, concentration and short-term memory problems, and sleep difficulties.

The exact cause of CFS/ME is unknown although the illness often starts after a severe viral infection, such as glandular fever. CFS/ME can cause such disability that a small number of patients can be either house or bedbound and unable to look after themselves.

In the past some doctors have been sceptical as to whether CFS/ME existed as a real disease but this was resolved in 2002 when a report from the Chief Medical Officer in England, Sir Liam Donaldson, concluded that CFS/ME was a genuine and disabling condition.

Dr Maurice Murphy, a specialist in infection and infectious diseases and Clinical co-leader of the service, said: “With the support of the three trusts we have become a dynamic hub of clinical expertise, with a well equipped large team combining physical and psychological medicine and allied professionals. In the past there has been a lack of services and scepticism amongst the medical profession of this illness. However this commitment shows that we have moved well beyond that point.”

Professor Peter White, an expert in Psychological Medicine and Clinical co-leader, said: “The unique part of this service is that three separate NHS Trusts have combined together to provide a truly integrated service for patients who have a misunderstood yet debilitating illness. Through our centre patients and their carers will now be given a proper diagnosis and the chance of recovery.”

International bestselling author Shirley Conran, who has suffered from CFS/ME for 35 years, attended the opening of the new service and recalled the worst moments of her illness: “There was a point when on paper I was bankrupt. I had no job or income. I had lost my beloved work, and there was a very negative domino effect on my children. My life was in ruins and there seemed nothing I could do to improve it. In these circumstances every unfortunate person who contracts CFS/ME needs a good doctor to help them come to terms with this illness. Ideally, like at Barts, there should be a team in a clinic where physicians and psychiatrists work together alongside occupational therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists. This service promises to be very special.”

The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and ME Service at Bart’s Hospital has been trialled since April 2005 before its official launch on Wednesday, 20 September. In the past year it has treated more than 600 patients and expects around 250 new referrals every 12 months. It is one of the largest centres in the UK with over 20 professional staff. The service is also supported by the Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry in providing teaching and research. The service is currently leading the largest ever study of treatments of CFS/ME, funded by the Medical Research Council.

Contact: For further information contact the Press Office on tel. 020 7480 4843.

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Notes for editors

Barts and The London NHS Trust is one of Britain’s top teaching hospital trusts. Over 500,000 people from the City, East London and further afield are treated at the Trust every year.  The Trust is made up of three hospitals - Barts in the City, The Royal London in Whitechapel and The London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green.

East London and The City Mental Health Trust was formed in April 2000 and brought together mental health services in the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham and The City of London. It operates over 50 sites and employs approximately 2,100 staff.

Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust is made up of 1,250 nurses, midwives, therapists, doctors, support and public health staff, working with more than 171 GPs in 37 practices. Services are provided in clients’ homes, schools, community centres, GP surgeries and health centres, at Mile End Hospital, and some services at The Royal London Hospital.

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