North of England Region

December 2009

Each time the regional newsletter is published, it costs money to print and to post. We are still committed to posting out a newsletter, but for some readers, an online version may be more convenient. This is my first attempt to create an online version of the familiar regional newsletter.

There are issues relating to privacy and data protection whenever information is posted online for public viewing. It is for this reason that I have edited the newsletter, removing personal information to create this web version. I hope you still find it useful.



Web version of the North of England regional newsletter
(December 2009) (PDF: 395 kb)

If your computer does not display the newsletter, then you may need to download and install the Adobe PDF Reader from here.

Robin Broad
Volunteer Web Editor
North of England Region
msnorthengland@worldnetspace.com

December 2009

Following on from MS Life Newcastle-Gateshead in June 2009, the MS Society held another Inclusive Club Night. This time the venue was Bewicks at Gateshead Civic Centre on 27 November 2009, from 8pm until midnight. 2 Rooms: Funky house & vocal garage by Local Hero DJ’s and The light lounge - retro classics & requests.

Thanks go to the MS events team for a great night and to Roger Cook for inviting three great hip hop rappers; Supanice, Mista Breeze and Baron Von Alias.

22 September 2009 

Directgov (National)

Directgov, the nation’s official website, today announces major improvements to their Blue Badge map to help disabled people travel across the UK more easily. Disabled football fans can now use the map to find out about a stadium’s accessibility before going to games by visiting www.direct.gov.uk/bluebadgemap  

And it’s good news for train travellers too, as the new rail map gives information about more than 2,000 train stations. This means disabled people can find out about station facilities and can book direct assistance in advance.

The map already contained a wide range of helpful information, from the location of disabled parking bays to accessible beaches. The new additions are:

· a rail map containing information on accessibility and disabled facilities for more than 2,000 train stations in the UK

· assessments for more than 500 of these train stations

· accessibility information for more than 160 major football stadiums

· enhanced information on London underground stations

· enhanced information on car parking across the UK

The new additions have been created by the Directgov Disabled People and Carers section, which is based in the Office for Disability Issues.

Jayne Nickalls, Chief Executive of Directgov, said:

“We’re delighted that this valuable information is now available on Directgov. We hope that the improved Blue Badge map will help disabled people and their drivers get out and about across the UK to enjoy their passions.”

Tim Cooper, Director of the Office for Disability Issues, said:

“We want disabled people to have greater control and independence in their lives, including how they spend their leisure time. We hope Blue Badge holders and their drivers will use the map to plan their travel by road and rail.”

Danny Wallace is an ex-footballer who played for Southampton, Manchester United and England. He has multiple sclerosis and – as well as being a Blue Badge holder – he is also an ambassador for the National Association for Disabled Supporters (NADS). Danny said:

“I know first-hand how important Blue Badge parking is for disabled people and the knack is to know where to find spaces especially on match day. I was pleased to hear that NADS and Directgov have been working together and sharing their information in this way. The Blue Badge map is an important service and one that should help disabled fans across the UK.”

August 2009

You will all be aware that we are in the midst of a financial crisis which is affecting all our lives and the public services that we depend upon. However what we often don’t get to hear are the positive messages about how services are being transformed to improve and enhance the resources available. For instance, the Department of Health has recently issued a number of papers on ‘Transforming Community Services’ and these look at ways that public money can be wisely spent to deliver high quality, safe but innovative practice. The papers give several examples of good practice in developing different ways of working in the community which benefit patients.

The Community MS Team (CMST) was, in its early days, an example of such an innovative and new way of working, focusing as it does on the specific needs of people with MS. However these days there are many similar services and we cannot rely on past glory to persuade the people who fund our service, on the public’s behalf, that we represent ‘value for money’. Indeed the CMST faces many challenges including broadening the scope of delivery of our specialist services to more people with MS, but such challenges always offer us opportunities at the same time. Right now we have an opportunity to re-focus the work of the CMST on what people with MS really want from a specialist community rehabilitation team and do what they feel will make the biggest positive changes on their lives. We have in fact a chance to transform our service and once again become a leading example of good practice in working with people with MS to improve quality of life.

Obviously the members of the CMST cannot do this alone and will need your help. We would like to invite you to contribute to an event to help us create a vision of what the CMST should look like and do in the future. For instance, should we be doing more to help people to stay in work or get back into work? If so, what kinds of things might we do to achieve this e.g. run courses, work with employment agencies or do more workplace based rehabilitation? What changes might we need to make to the team in order to make this happen? That is just one example and I am sure that you will all have ideas of things that we could do better, differently, more efficiently; things we need to stop doing and new things that we need to start doing. So please get your thinking caps on and share your bright ideas with us. We will be setting a date for our ‘Visioning Event’ soon and will let you know about this as soon as possible however if you have any thoughts you would like to share with us before then please do get in touch with the team at the usual address. Help us to shape up our MS services and make them fit to take on the challenges of the future!

Julia Johnson
MS Services Lead
Professional Lead Physiotherapist


MS Services
Walkergate Park
Benfield Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE6 4QD