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Successful campaign wins specialist MS nurse for islands 18/7/11
A MS nurse will finally be appointed in the Western Isles after the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society and NHS Western Isles agreed funding arrangements for the post.
Campaigners said a dedicated MS nurse would be a valuable lifeline to island sufferers
and their families who are affected by the “hidden condition” -
The Western Isles has over 80 people diagnosed with MS yet is the only region without a specialist nurse.
MS affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing problems with controlling muscles and limbs. People’s sight and balance can be affected. There is a large range of symptoms with no typical pattern.
Island sufferers had described feeling abandoned, labelled, losing their identity and a lack of empathy from health service.
One woman in Harris was selling her home to be near help on the mainland. Others are forced on exhausting trips to the central belt for advice. Even more suffer without support.
Now the MS Society will fund a full time MS Nurse for the first nine months when NHS Western Isles will take over the costs.
Local campaigner Christine Stewart, said: “I am absolutely delighted for all the MS sufferers in the Western Isles. At long last they will be given the care and attention they deserve on their own home ground, and a nurse who knows exactly what he/she is talking about when it comes to MS. The difference this is going to make for all those people will be huge.”
Mrs Stewart, who was nominated as one this year’s ‘Local Heroes’ by Rhoda Grant MSP, as a result of her contribution towards the campaign for an MS Nurse, also stressed that the new MS Nurse will have knowledge of disease modifying drugs, and this will also make a huge difference to people in the Western Isles.
Health board chief Gordon Jamieson said: “Whilst the decision has been a long time in coming, we believe it is the right way forward and the best support we can offer to MS patients in the Western Isles.”
Rhoda Grant who worked closely with Christine Stewart and the Western Isles branch of the MS Society said “ I am absolutely delighted that all the hard work and effort of those involved in this campaign have paid off. The sufferers of MS in the Western Isles will now receive the service they require and deserve which will without doubt enhance their overall care.”
MSP Alasdair Allan, who has raised the issue with the health board in the past, said that “few places in Scotland have greater need of such an appointment.”
Mr Allan said: “All those in the islands who have campaigned on this subject are to be congratulated for their efforts and I now look forward to a positive cooperation between the MS Society and the NHS to ensure that people with MS in the Western Isles get the care and advice that they clearly deserve.”
NHS Western Isles also plans to develop local services for the wide range of neurological conditions, including training for staff and setting up an arrangement with a mainland health board for specialist support.