CC14
To What Degree Are People with Multiple Sclerosis in Greater Manchester Satisfied with the Services Offered to Them
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system, characterised by unpredictable relapses and/or accumulation of disability. It requires a multidisciplinary approach and National guidelines (NICE CG8) recommend which services should be available. A recent MS Society publication and the domains set in the 2013/14 NHS outcome framework, highlight the necessity to improve service provision. The development of the ‘friends and family test’ (FFT) hopes to achieve this.
Objectives:
To determine the standard of healthcare services provided in Greater Manchester to people with MS.
Methods:
Patients were interviewed in controlled environments at 8 locations (4 outpatients, 2 day-case units and 2 community) using a structured questionnaire based around the FFT.
Results:
Seventy-five patients, (51 women (68%)) participated of which, 75% had relapsing remitting MS, 17% secondary progressive MS, and 8% primary progressive MS. At least two patients from each borough of Greater Manchester were collected. Most used services were MS Nurses (n=75), Neurologists (n=75) and GPs (n=71). MS Nurses and Neurologists demonstrated the highest FFT scores, 70.7 and 60 respectively, and psychologists the lowest, -24.6. The most commonly requested services were psychologists (19%) and physiotherapists (11%).
Conclusions:
Satisfaction is good amongst MS Nurses and Neurologists, measured by the FFT. People with MS seem less likely to attend their GP. This could have implications for the workload of MS Nurses. Patients would most like access to psychology and physiotherapy. In addition to repeating this audit, this report proposes that service professionals be surveyed to gather their perspective.