NHS organisations – what’s what?
Health care professionals sometimes talk about taking a 'multi-disciplinary' approach to MS health care. This means letting each individual with MS have access to a team of specialists trained in the various health disciplines needed to manage MS and its symptoms well.
Strategic Health Authorities
England is split into Strategic Health Authorities which develop plans for improving health services in their area and make sure NHS organisations are performing well. Within each Authority, services are split into various types of trusts including Primary Care Trusts and NHS Trusts.Primary Care Trusts and primary care
Community based health care is known as 'primary care' and is provided by a Primary Care Trust (or PCT for short). Services include: GP practices, district nurses, health visitors, community rehabilitation teams and other community services such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.NHS Trusts, secondary and tertiary care
NHS Trusts provide hospital based services to address problems that cannot be dealt with by Primary Care Trusts. As these services are the second port of call, after services provided by your Primary Care Trust, they are sometimes known as 'secondary care'. Examples include hospital based neurologists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, and neuro-psychologists. To get an appointment you need to be referred by your GP or another health care professional.Tertiary care services offer highly specialised treatment for people with rare or difficult conditions. For example, if you have repeated bladder problems you may be referred to a neuro-urologist in a specialised urology department. Tertiary care is also provided by NHS Trusts, but not every NHS Trust will offer all tertiary care services, so you may have to travel to another area.
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