Scottish Government announces withdrawal of the Scottish Good Practice Statement (SGPS) on ME/CFS in favour of NICE Guideline NG.206: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management: 29 October 2021.
The Healthcare Quality & Improvement Directorate inform us that they have told Scottish NHS & medical professional bodies that NG206 is now the formal guidance source for clinical practice and service provision for ME & CFS.
Notification of the Scottish Government’s decision to withdraw the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/CFS
Copy of the email:
I write to you today to advise that the Scottish Government’s has withdrawn the Scottish Good Practice Statement (SGPS) on ME/CFS as of 28 May 2025
As you know, the SGPS was originally published in 2010 and intended to support the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS in primary care. For several years the SGPS coexisted with the NICE Guideline NG206: ME/CFS Diagnosis and Management. The SGPS was partially revised in 2023, to reflect some of the key recommendations from the NICE guideline.
We took this approach due to the expected lengthy timescales involved in convening a full SGPS update and to avoid another protracted review process taking place so soon after the extensive NICE evidence review. However, aspects of the document remained outdated and so the decision has been made to withdraw the SGPS, leaving NICE Guideline NG206 as the default clinical guidance on ME/CFS.
The withdrawal of the document has been communicated to all of NHS Scotland’s territorial Health Boards, NHS Education Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and to relevant Royal Colleges and professional clinical bodies.
MEA Comment
Scottish Government policy following publication of NG206 was to keep the potential for separate Scottish guidance being updated to produce guidance which augmented practice advice aspects of the NICE guidance, in line with the original intent of the SGPS.
An interim update to the SGPS to bring it basically in line with NG206 was published in February 2023, with the intent that a full update would be commissioned. But that policy was dependent on finding enough expertise in NHS Scotland to produce further information than was resourced for NICE's Guideline production.
This decision to abandon any full SGPS update reflects the disappointingly limited scale and scope of clinical improvement across Scottish practice and education on ME & CFS before and after these publication dates.'
We will now look to Scottish Government for better promotion of NICE as the standard of practice to be met as a basis for professional understanding and NHS Scotland service provision, and work to enhance uptake of and adherence to NG206.
Further Information
- NICE Guideline: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management | Oct, 2021
- Scotland: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME-CFS): good practice statement | Last Updated Feb, 2023