Thank you and farewell to Donald Grosset

Donald has been an integral member of our Excellence Network since its inception. A Consultant Neurologist specialising in movement disorders for 25 years, he's also a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, and has brought the benefits of all of this experience and innovation to his roles with the Network.

From helping to shape the Excellence Network in Scotland as Lead of the Scotland South Regional Excellence Network back in 2015, Donald stepped up as Excellence Network Clinical Director from 2017 to 2022 when his calmness and clarity of thought led us through the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Clinical Lead for Service Improvement, he's transformed the way we drive improvement across the NHS - most notably by pioneering the online delivery of the UK Parkinson's Audit tool and through our bone health programme work - delivering our first national priority programme and improvements in how people with Parkinson's are assessed for bone health. He's continued this work through his recent findings and recommendations on earlier assessment for bone health. 

Explore the bone health resources.

Read the paper on early assessment.

And who can forget Donald's rousing and poignant delivery of Robert Burns' heartwarming poem O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast in his closing remarks at the 2018 Excellence Network Awards. Burns wrote the poem as an ode to his nurse, whose care made a huge difference during his final days. 

Read O Wert Though in the Cault Blast.

Rowan Wathes, Parkinson's UK Associate Director of Policy and Health Strategy, said:

"It's been an enormous pleasure working with Donald over the past few years as Clinical Lead for Service Improvement. He has expertly led our work to refresh the Parkinson's prevalence data and our efforts to improve bone health management in the NHS. He has also played a fundamental role in helping us deliver another successful UK Parkinson's Audit cycle, which will guide our NHS improvement work over the next few years."

As Donald's legacy has influenced so much of the Excellence Network's culture, practice and ambition, we're sure each and every one of you will join us in thanking him and wishing him well for the future.