Service Improvement

The stories below are examples of improvement in neurological services across the North East

Northern Neurological Alliance and the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at the RVI secure a meeting to review services

In October 2011 the NNA ran a focus group with a Northumberland-based long term neurological conditions group.  At the meeting, individuals and carers were invited to comment on the services they had received recently by completing a "comment card".  After completion it appeared that several individuals and carers were not happy with some aspects of the new facilities at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) since the rebuild and opening of the new wing. Whilst the facilities comply with the relevant legal and building regulations, some identified the following difficulties:

• Disabled bays are too far from the location of the MS clinic - this has implications for timetabling attendance at appointments and for free parking related to using a blue badge
• There is no room for carers to sit down with the person affected by Multiple Sclerosis
• There is no turning space for a disabled scooter

 The NNA received two further stories in February 2012 and took this issue to the PALS service at the RVI which responded very positively. They have arranged for the NNA and two individuals with neurological conditions to meet with the Involvement and Equalities Officer, the Neurosciences Matron and Estates Management to see if the issues raised can be resolved to increase patient satisfaction.

SoTW PCTs community matrons - neurological awareness raising sessions make a difference

Last year, SoTW PCTS and the South of Tyne Neurological Forum commissioned the NNA to offer awareness raising sessions to community matrons across Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside.  To date three sessions have been held including: motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.  The feedback has been increasingly positive and this relates to conducting a thorough evaluation of the teaching and learning strategies to ensure that the sessions meet the needs of the learners.  A positive spin-off from this work is that the Modern Matron has invited NNA to provide further sessions in the autumn and that new employees to the team will be offered shadowing of neurological specialist nurses as part of their induction.