Persistent Physical Symptoms Research and Treatment Unit

Director: Professor Trudie Chalder

The Persistent Physical Symptoms Research and Treatment Unit is an internationally recognised service, which provides a specialist diagnostic assessment and treatment for people with persistent physical symptoms. This includes fatigue, pain, irritable bowel symptoms and non-cardiac chest pain. We have developed models for understanding and treating persistent physical symptoms and continue to be at the forefront of research and development in this field. We offer specific treatment for chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia as well as other persistent physical symptoms.

We also treat fatigue in the context of long-term conditions such as cancer or if people have finished medical treatment but continue to experience symptoms. Our evidence-based treatments are routinely evaluated. Our goal is to increase the person’s functioning, improve quality of life and wellbeing, reduce the severity of their symptoms and facilitate a return to work or education where possible

The unit is a partnership between King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.

Our routine treatment is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which has been shown in several randomised controlled trials to be an effective intervention for CFS/ME.