GP who treated woman with severe ME tells inquest more funding is needed

In the last months of her life, Maeve Boothby-O’Neill was confined to bed, unable to chew food and had difficulty drinking because she was unable to sit up. Photograph: PA

There needs to be properly funded research into people suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and specialist services for patients, a GP who treated a young woman with the condition told her inquest.

Dr Lucy Shenton said doctors needed more help to treat patients such as Maeve Boothby-O’Neill, 27, who had the condition, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, for a decade before she died at home in October 2021.