Pioneers in patient care: consultants leading change
Midlands
Innovation: A Specialist Parkinson’s Disease Clinic and programme to improve the quality of life and support for people who have the disease, their families and carers
Dr Kirit Patel
Bucknall Hospital, Stoke on Trent
Job title: Consultant physician
Speciality: Geriatric medicine
A unique patient service at Bucknall Hospital, Stoke on Trent is helping people with Parkinson’s Disease, a chronic disease of the nervous system, cope with their illness. The Parkinson’s Disease Programme, introduced by Dr Kirit Patel and his team, provides a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary service for patients with this debilitating disease.
The specialist team consists of physiotherapists, nurses, medical experts, occupational therapists, speech therapists, clinical psychologists and social workers and over a 10-week period they deal with every aspect of the patients’ care. From nursing support such as dressings and blood pressure monitoring to feeding and swallowing advice, relaxation sessions, exercise programmes and support for carers.
Dr Patel says: “The care provided by the specialist team consists of a 10-week rolling programme which allows people with Parkinson’s Disease to function at their optimum, at all stages of their illness. A six-monthly review system also enables patients to access the service at regular intervals for interim ‘top ups’ of six weeks by an appropriate therapist. We have a social activity day at a centre in the community to encourage patients to continue their outside interests. We also run a support group for carers.”
Dr Patel says the programme was introduced “to meet the need for a properly organised multi-disciplinary approach for patients. Everyone involved has good knowledge of the patients, their needs and problems. And a link has been formed with palliative care nurses so patients can be referred to them in the later stages of the disease when they need more intensive support.”
The programme has been a “tremendous success” and the benefits for patients are wide-ranging, says Dr Patel. “The programme allows patients to receive accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment and rehabilitation, and gives them easy access to support services. The programme also gives the patient the opportunity to take an active role in managing their illness. Our patients welcome the attention, care and treatment they receive.”
Referrals to the programme come from a wide range of sources, including GPs, consultants, community nurses, physiotherapists, social services, and the Parkinson’s Disease Clinic. As one would expect from a busy programme, time is scarce, says Dr Patel. “We need more clinic time, so patients could be seen more quickly. We particularly need more allocated therapy time. We could do so much more if we had the time and the staff.”
The programme has recently opened ‘satellite’ facilities in two nearby day hospitals, but resources remain tight, Dr Patel says: “Our limited resources means that only a certain number of patients can attend the programme, have a home review or be seen in the specialist clinic. If funding was increased we could expand the service and increase the number of patient places by 40 per cent.”