Bed-bound patients suffering from ME have won their fight for a dedicated clinic to help them cope with their illness.

14-year-old Samantha McKenzie has ME

The Department of Health is putting up more than £146,000 to establish a team offering specialist home treatment to many of the estimated 1,000 patients in Oxfordshire who are too ill to receive out-patient care.

The news has been welcomed by patients and support group Omega, the Oxfordshire ME Group for Action, which has fought for better treatment for six years.

ME -- myalgic encephalopathy -- which has been referred to as 'yuppie flu', causes symptoms such as sleep deprivation, fatigue, muscle pain and gastric problems. Although there are about 2,000 sufferers in Oxfordshire, less than two per cent get hospital treatment, and even more are too ill to attend.

Omega secretary Tony Williams, who has suffered from ME for nine years, said: "This is wonderful news for ME patients in Oxfordshire. It has come about because of six years of blood, sweat and tears from sufferers lobbying for this clinic. "At the moment, the only specialist treatment is cognitive behavioural treatment. The new service will treat the physical symptoms and help people manage their illness."

The DoH is putting up £48,750 this year and £97,500 in 2005, following a joint bid from Omega and the county's five primary care trusts.

The money will finance a part-time specialist GP, community nurse, senior occupational therapist and senior physiotherapist, who will make home visits and provide out-patient clinics, which are due to open by September. Their care will help people like teenager Samantha McKenzie, 14, of Windrush Valley Road, Witney, who was struck with ME while at primary school and suffers severe pain, fatigue and memory loss, and is unable to bear bright light.

She has not been to school since January last year, spends much of her time in bed and relies on a wheelchair to get around.

Her mother Flora, 55, said: "Hopefully this new clinic means Samantha will get the help and recognition she needs."

More information about the ME clinics is available by calling 01235 833486, or by writing to Applegate, Orchard Lane, East Hendred, OX12 8JW.