Parkinson's Disease Society Comments On Patients' Right To Self Referral Announcement, UK

Main Category: Parkinson's Disease
Article Date: 22 Oct 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) today welcomed Alan Johnson's announcement to allow patients to self-refer to physiotherapists and allied health professionals.

Steve Ford, Chief Executive of the PDS said:

"Alan Johnson's announcement is certainly a step in the right direction. NICE's Parkinson's guidelines recommend speedy access to therapy services that can make a real difference to the quality of life of someone with a long term progressive illness. But we know that for many of the 120,000 people in the UK diagnosed with Parkinson's, this just isn't happening.

"We've learned from our recent survey of 13,000 people with Parkinson's that their top priority is access to physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy, when they need it.

"Yet, over half of the people with Parkinson's have never had a physiotherapy assessment or course of treatment, more than six out of ten have never had an assessment for speech and language therapy, or any treatment, and two-thirds have never had an occupational therapy assessment or course of treatment.

"Alan Jonson has now raised expectations and we hope that people with Parkinson's won't be disappointed when the full details are announced next month."

PDS's recent members' survey, Life with Parkinson's today: Room for improvement involved 13,000 members in 2007. It was published in 2008.

About the Parkinson's Disease Society

The Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) is the leading authority in the UK on the condition and a world leader in research. We campaign for a better quality of life for people with Parkinson's wherever they live in the UK. We provide expert information on all aspects of Parkinson's and a local support network for people with Parkinson's, their carers, families and friends. We are the UK's leading non-commercial funder of research into the cause, prevention and improved management of Parkinson's and are confident that our work will help lead to a cure. We are totally dependent on voluntary donations.

Parkinson's Disease Society