A new ME/CFS and Long Covid service has been issued for tender in Kent and Medway. £9.5million has been allocated to spend on this new specialist referral service over the next three years. The ME Association's Healthcare 4 ME team were invited to contribute to the development of the service specification, and they have provided further information below, alongside extracts from the official government Tender.
Extracts:
NHS Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board are undertaking a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Competitive Process and are inviting suitably qualified and experienced providers to bid for a Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long Covid Service in Kent and Medway. The contract duration will be for an initial period of 3 years with an option to extend for up to a further 2 years as required.
To provide an integrated specialist service for adults (and transitioning young people) with suspected or diagnosed ME/CFS and/or Long Covid across Kent and Medway.
Key Features of the Service:
- Early diagnosis and personalised care planning
- Multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach including medical, nursing, AHPs, and care coordinators
- Virtual and in-person support options
- Integration with primary care, community services, and voluntary sector
- Support for self-management, rehabilitation, and return to work/education
- Dedicated pathways for severely affected patients, including home-based care
- Transition support for young people moving from paediatric to adult services
To provide full end to end pathway for patients with Long Covid & Chronic Fatigue. It includes diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery support and delivery of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long Covid to meet the clinic specification in the recently revised national guide for post-COVID syndrome assessment clinics. To support serious debilitating conditions that can follow any type of viral infection. Both conditions have key symptoms in common and there may be similar level of functional impairment in in both. However, there are some important differences that distinguish some people with Long Covid from those with ME/CFS.
Comment from the MEA Healthcare 4 ME team:
The MEA were invited by NHS Kent & Medway ICB to contribute to the development of the service specification for the new ME/CFS and Long Covid service, which has now been issued for tender. The H4ME team provided detailed feedback on the draft specification and connected the commissioner with other ICBs that had already undergone service review and were further along in the process. We also facilitated connections between the commissioner and local ME support groups to try and ensure that patient and carer perspectives were meaningfully embedded within the review.
Although we have not had sight of the final specification and therefore cannot confirm whether our suggestions were incorporated, we are encouraged that the tender documentation mentions dedicated pathways for those most severely affected and a multidisciplinary team approach with physician involvement. We would welcome further detail on how this will be implemented in practice and look forward to ongoing engagement as the service develops.
Contact the Healthcare 4 ME care team
Latest blogs, news and updates on Healthcare 4 ME
