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URGENT - CFS/ME SERVICE closed to NEW
REFERRALS for three months:
Please note that the CFS/ME Service will be temporarily closed to
new referrals until late March 2012. However, any patient who is due
for a follow-up appointment will be seen. All GPs in Cornwall have
been notified.
The temporary closure, done by the Royal
Cornwall Hospital Trust, is due to the lack of ‘medical replacement'
after the recent retirement of Professor AJ Pinching, and to the
long-term illness of a member of the CFS/ME Service team.
In a
letter to MESH cornwall the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust has stated
that: “as an organisation we value the work of the CFS/ME Cornwall
Team and the importance of the Service to our patients.”
BUT the
RCHT continues with an apology: “for not being more proactive in
plans for replacing Professor AJ Pinching when he retired last
Autumn (2011). However, we are doing all we can to resolve the
situation. As with all other services when a vacancy occurs, it is
only right that there is a review to consider how the Service may
work differently, or more effectively, and that is the exercise we
are currently undertaking with the CFS/ME Service. Those plans, with
considerable support from the team and our Commissioners, are making
good progress. It is with regret that we have agreed to close the
(CFS/ME) Service to new referrals for the next three months. This
period of time will allow us to fully consider all our options and
appoint the most suitable medical workforce to ensure the service is
robust for the foreseeable future.
The RCHT letter then
concludes: we would like to reassure you that we consider the impact
of a reduced workforce in the CFS/ME Service to be a temporary
situation which we are working on resolving with a sense of
urgency.” (RCHT letter to MESH December 2011)
DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CFS/ME SERVICE ? IF
SO YOU CAN HELP : Approximately 80 patients will not be seen as new
referrals during the closure. The CFS/ME Service receives over 300
referrals from GPs per annum.
If CFS/ME patients and/or
carers etc have comments about the situation above or the Review
please email:
MESHcornwall@live.co.uk MESH cornwall will pass on your comments
to the RCHT.
OR download this letter (click here) add your comments and
return your letters to: The Chairman of MESH cornwall, (details are
in the letter) by Tuesday 21st February - MESH will pass your
letters to the RCHT.
MESH cornwall is closely monitoring the
temporary closure of the CFS/ME Service and its Review; we will
communicate any progress through this website.
Referrals of
patients by GPs to the CFS/ME Service will recommence 1st April 2012
To date, the CFS/ME Service
comprises:
Dr Robert Gardner and Dr Wendy Collins as our expert medical team.
Carol
Wilson, as Specialty Lead and Consultant Grade Occupational Therapist,
Dr
Cristina Lopez-Chertudi, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
and three local
occupational therapists.
They are providing
Assessment, Diagnosis,
Symptom Management and NICE recommended interventions.
IF YOU NEED A CFS/ME REFERRAL PLEASE SEE YOUR GP
GPs will then refer patients using:
Referrals via Choose and Book/RMS for patients 16+
and on Paper to The Specialty Lead, Carol Wilson for those under 16
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