PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(22 July 2025)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for new (a) services and (b) research to support people with (i) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (ii) chronic fatigue syndrome.

Asked by:
Cameron Thomas (Independent)

NHS England is responsible for allocating funding to integrated care boards, which in turn are responsible for commissioning specialist myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

On 22 July 2025, we published the final ME/CFS delivery plan, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mecfs-the-final-delivery-plan

Within the plan there is an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed for very severe ME/CFS.

The Government funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). We have assessed the ME/CFS research portfolio funded through NIHR and MRC and acknowledge that this is an under-funded area. The level of funding awarded is directly related to the number and quality of applications received and we have historically received a small number of applications for funding in this area. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the NIHR committed approximately £3.7 million to research projects and programmes on ME/CFS. In the same period, the MRC committed approximately £2.9 million to research into ME/CFS.

Together with the MRC, we are actively exploring next steps for research in ME/CFS. In the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, we have outlined the research actions and additional support that we will offer to the research community to increase the volume and quality of applications. This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including ME/CFS.

Answered by:
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