Stockport ME/CFS Service                

4th Floor 1WR

1 Wellington Rd North

Stockport SK4 1AF

0161 835 6684

mecfs@stockport.nhs.uk

Opening times

Monday - Friday: 09:00-16:30

If contacting the service by telephone, please leave a message on our answer machine out of the above hours or our email and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Other useful contact numbers

Stockport ME Group – Tel: 07752 260086 www.stockportmecfs.co.uk/

ME Association - Tel: 0344 576 5326 www.meassociation.org.uk

Action for ME - Tel:  0117 927 9551 www.actionforme.org.uk  

The Stockport ME/CFS Service is specialist multidisciplinary team who offer guidance and support to people 16 years and over with a diagnosis of ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and are registered with a GP within Stockport, Tameside and Glossop.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is an illness affecting 0.2%-0.4% of the population. It can affect anyone. ME/CFS has a wide range of symptoms that include fatigue, sleep disturbance, muscle and /or joint pain, difficulties with concentration, headaches and flu-like symptoms. The pattern and severity of the illness varies between people and during the course of the illness.

The aim of the Stockport ME/CFS service is to support people to self-manage their condition and adapt our treatment plan to individual needs. Our management programme includes pacing and activity management, relaxation techniques, managing stress, graded exercise/activity, guidance on sleep problems, managing setbacks, coping strategies and goal setting. We offer individual assessments followed by one-to-one management in clinics.

We currently run clinics at the following locations:

• Various Stockport Community Clinics
• Ashton Primary Care Centre, 193 Old Street, Ashton under Lyne, OL6 7SR

A home visiting service is also offered where necessary.

Our team consists of nurses, occupational therapist, physiotherapists, and specialist CBT (cognitive behavioural therapist) wellbeing practitioner, who have specialist knowledge of ME/CFS and experience of working with all levels of severity.

There is no individual test to diagnose ME/CFS and the symptoms are similar to some other illnesses. Therefore, your doctor will need to take a full history of what is wrong, carry out some tests and rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms. Your doctor should consider ME/CFS if your symptoms cannot be explained by another cause and have lasted for at least four months in an adult.

Once diagnosed, referrals to the service are made by GP or hospital consultant. We do not currently accept self-referrals. Once a completed referral is received from your GP and accepted, we will offer you an appointment for assessment either by telephone or at one of our clinics according to your postcode or a home visit if necessary. At this appointment we will agree a management plan with you and identify the number of sessions you are likely to require.

We will support you to manage the physical and emotional impact of your condition, with the aim of maintaining or gradually increasing your physical, emotional, and cognitive capacity. We will also support you in a return to work or education where this is appropriate.

Our emphasis is on self-care and self-management, and you will be asked to apply the advice given in between appointments and feed back to your assigned clinician in order to gain the most benefit from our management programme.

The Stockport ME/CFS Service has several Information Leaflets available at: https://www.stockport.nhs.uk/patientinformationleaflets

Category:  Integrated Care   Keyword/s: ME/CFS

Leaflets available

ME/CFS Patient Information              ME/CFS Physiotherapy          ME/CFS CBT Information

ME/CFS Occupational Therapy         ME/CFS Chair Based Movement Classes