Welcome news at long last for people with ME/CFS in Teesside. No longer out on a limb, unable to access dedicated services, being the poor relative because of postcode inequalities – funding has now been agreed to establish a service that will be based in Middlesbrough.

Many thanks go to Dr Brendan McCarron of James Cook University Hospital who led the process of presenting a pilot business case to the Teesside Primary Care Trusts.

Funds will be available to recruit three therapist staff and we hope the services will be up and running by Easter. Referral will be via your GP in the first instance and in the first year they will expect to see approximately 70 new cases. It has been confirmed that a Specialist Nurse has now been appointed and a physiotherapist and psychologist will follow in the next few weeks. An audit of services at the end of year one will take place.

Dr McCarron and his Consultant colleagues have been diagnosing and assessing patients with ME/CFS for some time, and they are delighted they will now be in a position to offer specialist care and management therapies.

We are confident that this pilot will easily identify the case of need for people with ME/CFS so that a full business case can be presented to continue and expand – particularly to cover the care of children & young people, and also deliver domiciliary care to the more severely affected who are unable to access outpatient services.