King's Fund urges UK Government to build staff capacity and skills for neurological conditions

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 14 Mar 2005 - 10:00 PST

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The King's Fund welcomes yesterday's Government announcement on a new National Service Framework (NSF) for neurological long-term conditions but stresses the urgent need to increase staffing capacity and strengthen partnership if the recommendations are to have a significant impact.

The NSF's focus on faster diagnosis, more rapid treatment and a comprehensive package of care for the millions of people across the UK with neurological conditions is a welcome response to the priorities expressed by groups of patients.

King's Fund chief executive Niall Dickson said: "Implementation will be the main challenge for primary care trusts, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations. Increasing clinical capacity is crucial, particularly in neurology, and building staff skills. Another area of challenge will be to improve integration between the many different provider organisations."

The NSF takes a more holistic view of the services needed to maintain quality of life than the recent NHS and social care model1 for long-term conditions. This emphasis will be just as important for people with other long-term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Niall Dickson added: "It would be productive to draw parallels between the recommendations of this NSF and the Government plan to provide personalised care for people with long-term conditions."

The Government's long-term conditions model has a clinical focus, while the NSF is broader, and there will be opportunities for health services to learn from social care with its past experience of developing care packages for people with complex needs.

1. For further information or interviews, please contact the King's Fund media and public relations office on 020 7307 2585. An ISDN line is available for interviews on 020 7637 0185.

2. The Government announced its new long-term conditions plan on 7 January 2005.

3. The King's Fund report Case-Managing Long-Term Conditions: What impact does it have on the treatment of older people, by Ruth Hutt, Rebecca Rosen and Janet McCauley, is free to download at Kngsfund.org.uk/pdf/casemanagement.pdf.

4. The King's Fund is an independent charitable foundation working for better health, especially in London. We carry out research, policy analysis and development activities, working on our own, in partnerships, and through grants. We are a major resource to people working in health, offering leadership and education courses; seminars and workshops; publications; information and library service

kingsfund.org.uk/news/news.cfm?contentID=286

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