This service is available for people aged 18 and over (or 16 and over, not in full-time education) with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / ME, who require specialist clinical input.
Referral Procedure
We require a written referral from the GP or a medical specialist. We welcome inquiries from people individually, and usually we will arrange to fax the relevant information and forms to their GP, who can then make the referral.
We accept referrals from General Practitioners and Specialists for people living in the Boroughs of Hillingdon, Harrow, Hounslow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing, Brent, Kensington Chelsea & Westminster. This service is centrally funded, therefore GPs & other referrers are not charged for referring.
If the referrer is confident that other medical causes for symptoms have been adequately investigated & excluded, they can document this in the referral and attach relevant correspondence. This will speed up the process considerably by not duplicating the medical screening.
Otherwise, we require up-to-date blood test results to complete a medical screening. We provide a referral form that lists the required tests. Referrers must arrange for these to be carried out if they are not up-to-date (i.e. done within the last three months) prior to referral. We cannot process the referral without this information. Download a referral form by clicking here.
Who We Are
Our team consists of specialists in Occupational Therapy, Clinical Psychology, and Physiotherapy. We collaborate with specialist medical practitioners who provide the medical screening. We are part of the national collaborative network for CFS/ME services.
What We Offer
If required, the first step following referral would be to arrange a medical screening to check if CFS/ME is the appropriate diagnosis for the symptoms the person is experiencing.
Following this, we offer an initial outpatient appointment for assessment. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the person’s current difficulties and how they are managing their symptoms, explain what our service has to offer, and start developing an individualised treatment plan.
The focus of treatment is on helping the person develop and apply effective self-management methods for increasing function & reducing distress, aiming for long-term improvement.
Our individualised, patient-centred interventions follow a self-management, cognitive-behavioural approach as recommended in the most recent (draft) NICE guidelines for the treatment of CFS/ME at a secondary - tertiary level. For further details on the NICE guidelines please click here.
Please note that other than an initial medical screening, we do not offer further medical investigations, interventions or trials –however, we are entirely willing to work with people who are pursuing such medical interventions elsewhere.
Contact Details
If you would like further information about referring or being referred to our service, please contact us for further information at:
Renuka Mahabeer, Service Administrator, on 01895 279 374 or email: renuka.mahabeer@thh.nhs.uk