Updated 31 October 2019
The M.E. Trust Office is located at:
12 William Street
Windsor
SL4 1BA
This is the administrative centre and no patients are seen here.
The M.E Trust (the trust) has an outpatient’s clinic at:
Crowborough War Memorial Hospital
Southview Road,
Crowborough
East Sussex
TN6 1HB.
The outpatients’ clinic takes place on the afternoon of the third Friday of the month. The inspectors did not visit the outpatients’ clinic.
The ME Trust is a charity dedicated to funding and providing individual patient treatment for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) also called Chronic Fatigue syndrome (CFS), usually described together as ME/CFS. Approximately 250,000 people in the UK suffer from ME/CFS. It is an umbrella term for neurological conditions or spectrum of diseases that may cause extreme exhaustion, muscle and joint pain, noise and light sensitivities, cognitive impairment, digestive problems and other symptoms. There is currently no cure. The trust provides treatment where this is possible. It provides advice, physiotherapy and emotional support for those living with ME/CFS. The emotional and physiotherapy service fall outside the scope of registration and are therefore not covered by CQC registration.
How we inspected this service
We reviewed information from the provider including evidence of staffing levels and training, audit, policies and the statement of purpose.
We interviewed the GP in charge of treatment, the receptionist/secretary, the physiotherapist, the Registered Manager, and a trustee of the charity. We reviewed documents, inspected the facilities and the building. We also asked for CQC comment cards to be completed by patients prior to our inspection. We received six comment cards. We talked with four patients.
To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:
Is it safe?
Is it effective?
Is it caring?
Is it responsive to people’s needs?
Is it well-led?
These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.