Education team
The MS Trust believes that informed health professionals are a significant resource for people with MS. We believe that every person given a diagnosis of MS should have access to an MS Specialist nurse and if necessary specialist therapists. We therefore invest in the education of health professionals to increase skills and development at a general and specialist level.
For general health and social care professionals with an interest in MS we run study days across Great Britain. Jean Wakeling, an MS Nurse Specialist in West Sussex helped us to put together the programme for a very successful study day we had in Kent in January this year.
Jean Wakeling, MS Specialist Nurse in East Sussex speaks about her involvement in the day:
“I have been in the audience at many MS Trust events and have always been impressed by the good organisation and enthusiasm of everyone taking part. Being involved in a study day seemed like a good opportunity to give something back as I have received so much support and education from the Trust in the past 3 years. It was also a golden opportunity to reach out to a wide range of professionals working with people with MS; to raise their awareness of this most challenging condition and improve the care being offered county wide.
Hot topics were proposed to make the day informative and interesting. To reveal the ‘hidden’ symptoms that are sometimes difficult to raise and to give professionals the knowledge and confidence to approach people with MS and allow an insight into what it was like to live with the unpredictability of MS.
I shared the Chairing role with Lisa Black who works for West Sussex PCT, welcoming and introducing the speakers, inviting the questions and offering thanks. The day went so quickly, with interesting and informative presentations. It was a valuable experience for both of us and I am sure everyone learnt a great deal about MS.”
For those health professionals who are new in post as MS Specialists, the MS Trust offers a week long Development Module in Clinical MS which is accredited by Leeds Metropolitan University. We run the course twice a year for approximately 15-20 people. It is designed meet the learning needs of professionals starting as an MS Specialist.
Fiona Ball, an MS Nurse Specialist in Peterborough writes about her experience:
“I attended the MS Trust Development Module in October 2008 having been in post a mere 4 weeks! I was excited about the course and nervous too. The programme looked full and the prospect of homework each day seemed quite daunting. The first day was by turns overwhelming, fascinating, exhausting and brilliant. The group represented both nursing and allied health professions and it was obvious we all had relevant experiences to bring to the group as well as a collectively brilliant sense of humour! As the week progressed the complexities and challenges for people living with MS were revealed, we had brilliant speakers and excellent resources. The opportunity to network and become friends was invaluable and keeping in touch has been really helpful in the last few months.”
Heidi Bedford a neurophysiotherapist at Kingston Hospital talks about her involvement with the MS Trust
“Having been interested in MS for a long time I jumped at the chance to be involved in a new initiative through the MS Trust.
Therapists in MS (TiMS) brings together allied health professionals who share a special interest in Multiple Sclerosis with the aim of improving MS services within the UK, through the promotion and development of the therapist's role in the care and management of people with multiple sclerosis.
Thanks to the fantastic support from the MS Trust, TiMS has completed some great pieces of work, notably:
- A contact directory of therapists who work with people with MS
- An informative website
- Study days for therapists
- Research updates
- The publication “Therapists in MS – Delivering the Long Term Solutions” which was produced in response to the release of the National Service Framework for Long Term Conditions (NSF-LTC). It details the involvement therapists have in all aspects of care for people with MS and makes recommendations for therapy services.
I worked in the group that produced the publication and more recently I have been involved with the Audit Group of TiMS. With support from the MS Trust, we have been developing a web-based tool to enable therapists and therapy services to monitor themselves against the quality requirement for services as laid out in the NSF-LTC. The questions are based on the recommendations for MS therapy services that TiMS made in their publication. We hope that individual results of the audit will provide evidence demonstrating the needs for service improvements and facilitate these changes to take place.
The group also plans to use the information to map out and analyse therapy services for people with MS around the UK.
In keeping with the aims of TiMS, we hope that our work will improve therapy services and quality of life for people with MS.
Although there has been a lot of hard work, being part of TiMS has been invaluable for me in terms of peer support and ongoing education, as well enabling me to develop my service for people with MS. I am very grateful to the MS Trust for getting us going in the first place and being there to motivate and support us with all our projects.”