Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with myalgic encephalomyelitis.

As part of the final delivery plan for myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), that was published in July 2025, the Government committed to supporting people with ME/CFS. The plan focuses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.

We are developing a template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS, in conjunction with NHS England. The template will set out examples of best practice for the commissioning of services for ME/CFS to ensure consistent and high-quality care across integrated care boards. The Department, together with ForwardME, is developing a Language Matters Guide to accompany this to ensure that terminology is consistent and well understood.

To help support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme for healthcare professionals. All sessions of the e-learning programme, with sessions one, two, and three having universal access, whilst the final session on managing severe ME/CFS being only available to healthcare professionals, are now available at the following link:

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