Derbyshire Parkinson's Disease Service
Hospital: Derbyshire Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust
Hospital type: Acute trust
Challenges
There were no Parkinson's-specific services and the teams
involved in managing Parkinson's patients were uncoordinated and
lacked direction.
Another challenge was the low number of doctors per head of the
population in the area.
Action
Dr Bajaj, lead consultant for the project, developed a
comprehensive, holistic approach to Parkinson's from the point of
diagnosis, using a multidisciplinary team. Integral to this has
been the use of research to drive clinical advances in diagnostics
and therapeutics.
The team now includes a Parkinson's nurse and a community-based
neurology nurse specialist providing liaison services for the
Parkinson's community.
The Parkinson's service is run jointly between care of the
elderly and neurology services enabling a balanced and innovative
approach to patient care.
Achievements
- A Parkinson's steering group for southern Derbyshire now
oversees developments, such as good practice, information-sharing
and a common approach to drug monitoring.
- Post-diagnosis counselling is now routine for Parkinson's
patients.
- The team has contributed to development of the Lindop Parkinson's Assessment Scale for
mobility, which has been taken up nationwide.
- Virtual clinics allow the team to reach out to patients who
cannot make the journey to hospital themselves.
- Winners of the Hospital Doctor Parkinson's Team of the Year
2007
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