A palliative care service for people severely affected by MS

Sam Hart, Polly Edmonds, Rachel Burman, Eli Silber, Bella Vivat, Irene J Higginson
 
The research team was awarded a grant from the MS Society to develop and evaluate a new model of care.
In 2003 the project undertook a needs assessment to more clearly identify what services currently exist for patients with MND and MS, what patients, carers and healthcare professionals working with these patients feel is important and whether patients are able to access appropriate services. Following this a new team has been established, based at the Kings Neurosciences centre and working closely with the hospital palliative care team.
 
The new team identified patients with MS and MND that might have palliative care needs, in order to undertake specialist assessment, to collaborate with existing services to improve access to non hospital-based services and to undertake appropriate education of healthcare professionals, patients and carers. As the service was new and innovative, it was evaluated using a before and after design plus a comparison between fast track and standard referral times.

Study outcomes

For publications please see Publications section
 
In addition to journal publications, the following have resulted from the study to date:

An online directory of MS Services in South East London, covering the six boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley
http://www.selmss.org.uk/
(clicking link exits our department)
 
MS Essentials 16: Support for people severely affected by MS
Available for download via the box below, or alternatively from the MS Society website at:
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/support_and_services/free_publications/index.html
(clicking link exits our department)