Hospice to Launch Pioneering MS Care
By Barry Nelson Health Editor
IN one of the first schemes of its kind in the country, a specialist day hospice catering for patients with neurological conditions is being set up in the region.From early next month, people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other severe neurological illnesses who live in the Teesdale area of County Durham will have the chance to visit a specialist day hospice set up by the Butterwick Hospice group.Funded by the Richardson charitable trust and based at the new NHS-run Richardson Hospital, in Barnard Castle, the once-aweek day hospice will cater for up to five patients for eight weeks at a time.Butterwick is associated with caring for cancer patients at the end of their lives, but the new service is aimed at patients with neurological disorders.The occurrence of MS in Teesdale and Weardale is twice the national average, and Butterwick has for some time been providing a mobile aromatherapy service for MS patients and their carers, jointly funded by Butterwick and the MS Society.The additional service in Barnard Castle will provide day hospice care and offer symptom management, support and advice, aromatherapy, counselling and physiotherapy.Graham Leggett-Chidgey, chief executive of Butterwick Hospice Care, said there were plans to further expand day hospice services in the region, but described yesterday’s launch – which represented a commitment to spend [pounds]500,000 a year – as “a huge step in the right direction”.The Butterwick charity, which relies heavily on the public’s generosity, already provides two day- care places for MS patients within each of its existing day hospices.”We don’t charge for these hospice service. We are dependent on the community, but we are confident it is going to be a great success, ” he added.The number of patients using Butterick Hospice services managed from the charity’s Bishop Auckland base has increase from 54 in 2003 to 593 in the last financial year.Tina Pickering, the specialist nurse who will provide much of the care, said she recently attended a conference which included representatives from more than 90 hospices. Only one other hospice had a similar day scheme for MS patients.
(c) 2007 Northern Echo. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.