 |
 |
Parkinson's nurses offer NHS savings Jul 17 2003 By Steve Bagnall A NEW survey shows huge savings could be made in the region's hospitals by employing specialist Parkinson's nurses. In the first survey of its kind in the UK - carried out at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan - one specialist Parkinson's nurse saved the NHS £50,000. The research examined how the role of locally employed Parkinson's (Pd) nurse Sally Roberts saved the time of consultants during her first year at Glan Clwyd. Now the authors of the report hope their findings will convince trusts to employ at least another two Pd nurses for the north west and the north east areas of the region. Dr Peter Hobson, researcher at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd's academic unit, said there were 300-400 Parkinson's patients in the Conwy and Denbigh-shire NHS Trust area. "We have just finished our report and found that after Sally's costs for her job, we have saved something like £50,000 a year," he said. "Now we need to persuade the managers to look at this and the cost benefits." Simon Hatch, manager of the Parkinson's Disease Society in Wales, said: "The benefit s to people with Parkinson's and to their families and carers is already well known. "Pd Nurses provide both physical and emotional support to people with Parkinson's and prevent many from need-less admissions to hospital. "Now we can see what the financial savings to North Wales hospitals would be by employing these nurses where they are most needed. "While there are seven Parkinson's nurses in South Wales, there is only one in North Wales." Dr Jolyon Meara, senior lecturer at Glan Clwyd, whose team carried out the research, said: "The modern NHS is about keeping people healthy and developing the best local community support for people available. "Pd Nurses are an excellent example of taking the strain away from hospitals and working in multi-disciplinary teams to keep people healthier for longer. "We want to establish a network of Pd nurses in North Wales." "Now the Trust has taken on the funding for next year. Part of the evaluation was that we had to be an economic evaluation of the first year." * The Parkinson's Disease Society has a free confidential helpline which is staffed by nurses and operates from Monday to Friday - 9.30am-5.30pm. Call 0808 800 0303. SOURCE: icNorthWales, UK http://tinyurl.com/h7df http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/content_objectid=13186666_method=full_siteid=50142_headline=- Parkinson-s-nurses-offer-NHS-savings-name_page.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn