Assessment of patients with suspected ME/CFS can be complex and requires time and care.
- Your referral will first be reviewed by a consultant. You will be sent a set of questionnaires about your symptoms to complete and return (by post or email).
- Sometimes the consultant will suggest additional tests for your GP to perform, or referral to another service if it is better suited to your symptoms.
- If the referral is accepted, you will be offered an appointment with one of the doctors in the ME/CFS service.
- This appointment will assess the pattern of your fatigue symptoms, any other associated symptoms, and confirm that there are no other medical conditions likely to explain the fatigue.
- Sometimes the doctor may recommend further tests or referral to another service.
- If the doctor thinks that you would benefit from our ME/CFS therapy service, they will then arrange for you to be seen.
The ME/CFS Therapy service
There is unfortunately no cure for ME/CFS. However, with the help of a specialist therapy service, most patients find useful improvements in their ability to manage their symptoms, and to maximise what they can do in their day-to-day life.
- You will be offered an initial appointment with a member of the therapy team. They will review the symptoms that are causing you the greatest difficulties and determine what kind of therapy would be likely to be most helpful for you.
- They will then recommend a course of treatment with a member of the therapy team.
- The types of therapies offered are always individualised to a patient’s needs and a treatment plan is developed in partnership with the patient.
- We do not offer therapy based on fixed increments of physical activity (e.g. Graded Exercise Therapy, GET). We do offer individualised therapy for patients who wish to increase their levels of physical activity under the careful supervision of a specialist physiotherapist.
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is not offered as a cure for ME/CFS. We do offer CBT where a patient has associated symptoms that are likely to benefit from it. CBT is delivered by a specialist psychologist.
- The therapy team can also help support carers, where required.
- Sometimes a different therapy team may be better suited to your needs. In this case, we will arrange for an onwards referral, if required.
