Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of myalgic encephalomyelitis treatment in South West London.

We published the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan on 22 July 2025. The plan focusses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease, including those in South West London.

The ME/CFS final delivery plan includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for people with very severe ME/CFS across England. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.

NHS England has also started its work on co-designing resources for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS, including for patients in South West London. It will meet a group of key stakeholders to progress this in the coming weeks.

To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, as set out in the final delivery plan, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme, with sessions one and two having universal access, whilst the third session is only available to healthcare professionals, are now available at the following link:

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