Concerns raised 4 Extremely limited doctor training on ME/CFS treatment, especially severe ME View source Lack of specialist healthcare provision for patients with severe ME View source Failure of NICE guidance to provide detailed guidance on managing severe ME at home or in the community View source Lack of current funding for ME/CFS treatment research and understanding of causes View source See 1 more concern
Actions described in response An action is something this recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised. 1
Action
Share the NHS England e-learning package on ME with medical schools.
View source
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AI-generated summary
Maeve Boothby O’Neill · Prevention of Future Deaths report
This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.
Report summary
Maeve Boothby O’Neill, who had severe ME and was bedbound, died at home on 3 October 2021 after three hospital admissions during 2021. The report identified concerns about the lack of specialist care provision for severe ME, limited research funding and medical training, and insufficient guidance on managing severe ME in the home or community, including nutritional support.
Read the report on judiciary.uk
× Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Medical Schools Council; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Extremely limited doctor training on ME/CFS treatment, especially severe ME
Wider context from the report “(3) During the course of the inquest it became clear that there was extremely limited training for Doctors on ME/ CFS and how to treat it – especially in relation to severe ME .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Medical Schools Council; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Lack of specialist healthcare provision for patients with severe ME
Wider context from the report “(1) During the course of the evidence it became clear that there were no specialist hospitals or hospices, beds, wards or other health care provision in England for patients with severe Myalgic encephalopathies (ME) . This meant that the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital had no commissioned service to treat Maeve and patients like her .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Medical Schools Council; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure of NICE guidance to provide detailed guidance on managing severe ME at home or in the community
Wider context from the report “(4 ) During the course of the inquest it became clear that the 2021 NICE guidelines on ME did not provide any detailed guidance at all on how severe ME should be managed at home or in the community and in particular whether or not there is any necessary adaptation needed to the 2017 guidance on Nutrition support for adults : oral nutrition support , enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Medical Schools Council; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Lack of current funding for ME/CFS treatment research and understanding of causes
Wider context from the report “(2) During the course of the inquest it became clear that there was no current available funding for the research and development of treatment and further learning for understanding the causes of ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) .
” Open source report
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Share the NHS England e-learning package on ME with medical schools.
Verbatim wording from the response “Additionally, the Department for Health and Social Care shared their response to this section 28 request with me and I can confirm that I have shared NHS England e-learning package on ME with medical schools.” Source location Response from MSC
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent position was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation The Medical Schools Council cannot compel medical schools to change curricula or require particular content to be delivered.
Verbatim wording from the response “MSC is the membership body for medical schools in the UK and as such it has no power to compel medical schools to change curricula or require that content be delivered in a certain way. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of undergraduate medical education and is responsible for quality assuring medical schools. However, I have looked into how ME/CFS is taught and assessed across medical schools, and I have some information that I hope you will find reassuring.” Source location Response from MSC
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent position was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Postgraduate medical education and training are outside the Medical Schools Council’s responsibility.
Verbatim wording from the response “I would like to finish by stressing that medical school is the first step of a long process of education and training that doctors in the UK undertake. It is important that lessons learnt in undergraduate medical education are built on when a doctor enters postgraduate medical education and training. MSC is not responsible for these stages of training which are regulated by the GMC. The curricula for specialty and GP training are developed by medical Royal Colleges who are also responsible for the assessment of specialist knowledge. In order that Royal Colleges and GMC are aware of this case I am copying in Professor ████████, Director of Education and Standards at GMC and ████████, Director of Education and Quality at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.” Source location Response from MSC
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent position was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation The GMC regulates and quality assures undergraduate medical education, including the relevant curriculum standards.
Verbatim wording from the response “MSC is the membership body for medical schools in the UK and as such it has no power to compel medical schools to change curricula or require that content be delivered in a certain way. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of undergraduate medical education and is responsible for quality assuring medical schools. However, I have looked into how ME/CFS is taught and assessed across medical schools, and I have some information that I hope you will find reassuring.” Source location Response from MSC
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent position was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation The GMC regulates postgraduate training, while medical Royal Colleges develop specialty and general practice curricula and assess specialist knowledge.
Verbatim wording from the response “I would like to finish by stressing that medical school is the first step of a long process of education and training that doctors in the UK undertake. It is important that lessons learnt in undergraduate medical education are built on when a doctor enters postgraduate medical education and training. MSC is not responsible for these stages of training which are regulated by the GMC. The curricula for specialty and GP training are developed by medical Royal Colleges who are also responsible for the assessment of specialist knowledge. In order that Royal Colleges and GMC are aware of this case I am copying in Professor ████████, Director of Education and Standards at GMC and ████████, Director of Education and Quality at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.” Source location Response from MSC
Open published response
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Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations