Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the template service specification for mild and moderate myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) will address the needs of people with severe and very severe ME; and whether a separate specification will be developed for those groups.

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.