National Audit Office report reveals money wasted in neurological
services
16 December 2011
The National Audit Office released a report today about services
provided for people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's.
Services for people with long-term neurological conditions are not as good as they ought to be, despite a large increase in spending.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office
The report -
Services for people with neurological conditions - shows
that even though an extra £700million has been spent on these
services in the last 5 years, the quality of care has worsened.
The Department of Health has also admitted that they have no
understanding of how this extra money has benefited people with
these conditions.
Problems with services
The report shows what people affected by Parkinson's have been
telling us - that there are still significant problems with
services.
These problems include long delays in receiving a diagnosis,
lack of access to information and fragmented and poorly
co-ordinated care.
This shows that money alone can't solve the problems with the
services.
So we're urging the Government to make sure that people with
Parkinson's, MS or Motor Neurone
Disease benefit from good quality healthcare services that
really support their needs.
'A wasteful failure to provide vital care'
We want the Government to create a specific plan for
neurological conditions to improve the quality of care and deliver
value for the public purse.
Steve Ford, our chief executive, comments:
Admissions and re-admissions could be reduced by giving every person with Parkinson's access to a Parkinson's nurse - it would save the NHS up to £42million.
Steve Ford, our chief executive
"The National Audit Office report exposes a wasteful failure to
provide vital care for people with neurological conditions.
"Being admitted into hospital unnecessarily can cause problems for people with Parkinson's because they
often do not get their medication on time.
"Late or missed medication can make their symptoms unmanageable
so they have to stay in hospital longer and in some cases they
may never fully recover.
"Admissions and re-admissions could be reduced by giving every
person with Parkinson's access to a specialist Parkinson's nurse - and it would
save the NHS up to £42million.
"The Government needs to act now to provide the care people with
these devastating conditions need."
Find out more
- Sign up to our Campaigns Network or
call 020 7963 9332. Take action to help us make sure that the
voices of people affected by Parkinson's are heard.
- Find out about our current campaigns
to see what other changes we're campaigning for to benefit people
affected by Parkinson's.
- email
-
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