About Us

Welcome from the Director

The UNSW Fatigue Clinic is a unique clinical service in Australia focussed on improving the lives of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), post-cancer fatigue (PCF), and post-infective fatigue syndrome (PIFS). These conditions share several common elements, including closely comparable, disabling symptoms featuring tiredness or fatigue, which is exacerbated by relatively minor physical or cognitive (brain) activity; poorly understood disease mechanisms; and limited treatment options. This combination of challenges underpins the mission of the Clinic, which is to integrate scientifically-proven treatment approaches with a research program which seeks to better understand the conditions, to develop better treatments, and to educate patients and clinicians about the illness. Having been established for more than a decade, the UNSW Fatigue Clinic is the Australian leader in both evidence-based treatment services and associated research programs.

Careers

The UNSW Fatigue Clinic attracts outstanding allied health providers, researchers, and support staff to work in both our clinical service and on our research projects. Both our clinical work and research into fatigue states is highly respected nationally and internationally. We welcome expressions of interest from individuals seeking a clinical and/or research role with our organisation.

If you’re interested in becoming part of the UNSW Fatigue Clinic team, please get in touch via email or via phone on 02 9385 8272. 

Our history

The UNSW Fatigue Clinic was established in 2007 and has successfully championed the strong links between research and clinical service since that time, with a goal of delivering the best possible clinical benefits to patients and to guide research developments. The Clinic was established to operate on a non-profit basis with the running costs for the clinical services partially offset by Medicare reimbursements.

The goal of the treatment service (i.e. the Clinic Program) is to reduce the severity of symptoms and to improve day-to-day capacity for physical and cognitive (thinking) activities. The Program provides treatment for people affected by medically-unexplained fatigue conditions including CFS, PCF, and PIFS.

The rationale for the Clinic Program at its inception was to combine the existing evidence-based interventions (i.e. treatments which had been shown to be consistently effective in randomised controlled trials across more than one centre) into a coordinated program, The key elements of this established evidence base were for graded exercise therapy (GET) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In addition, the design of the Program incorporated other elements of recommended best practice including: education about the illness and its natural history; activity pacing which is a critical precursor to GET; and standard management of common complicating issues such as disturbances in sleep-wake routine, anxiety and depression, and difficulties in coping with chronic illness.

The Program was designed to include each of these standardised interventions, but in an individually-tailored program (i.e. considering the relative priority for each intervention for each patient). The Program was systematically evaluated and found to be both safe and effective^1.

Based on the mission of the UNSW Fatigue Clinic to develop improved treatments, the addition of an equivalent to GET but targeting the commonly reported difficulties in concentration and memory has been developed, piloted^2,3 and then formally evaluated and found to be effective^4,5. This component of the Clinic Program has been termed cognitive exercise therapy (CET) and is now incorporated as part of the improved intervention.

Research studies conducted by members of the UNSW Fatigue Clinic in collaboration with cancer specialists at Prince of Wales Hospital and the National Centre for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), have revealed that the illness characteristics and natural history of chronic fatigue occurring after cancer treatment are closely comparable to those of PIFS and CFS^6,7,8,9 Accordingly, the team formally evaluated the benefits of the CBT/GET intervention for patients with PCF¹⁰. This study revealed that the Clinic Program was also effective and safe for patients with PCF.

Our People

Professor Andrew Lloyd
 Director

Ms Sally Casson
Exercise Physiologist

Ms Briana Clifford
Exercise Physiologist

 

Ms Sarah Masters
Clinical Psychologist

Mrs Andrea Lloyd
Practice Manager

Mrs Katarina Harsaniova
Administration Assistant

 

Ms Sue Cutbill
Exercise Physiologist

Ms Roshana Sultan
Executive Officer

Location and Maps

Transport Info

The Fatigue Clinic is located at 32 Botany Street, Randwick (corner of Botany and High Streets). Frequent bus services from Central Bus Station and the eastern suburbs stop directly outside the Clinic. Bus services travelling to the Clinic include M50, 348, 357, 370, 400, 890 & 891. Further transport information is available on the UNSW Transport website.