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Risk Sharing Scheme in Wales (Update 1 - Sept 2003)On 4th February 2002, the Risk Sharing Scheme for disease modifying therapies was announced in Wales. At the same time, as a result of the strength of campaigning from the MS community in Wales, Jane Hutt, Minister for Health & Social Services made an extra £1.7 m (recurrent) available to fund the drug and infrastructure costs of the Scheme.That was all 18 months ago, so where are we today? The biggest barrier to the Scheme in Wales has been the serious lack of infrastructure - not enough Neurologists, no MS Nurses in some areas, not to mention physiotherapists, occupational therapists and administrators to co-ordinate the high level of monitoring required by the Scheme. Three lead Trusts were identified as Prescribing Centre's for Wales and this is the position to date:  A new Centre is currently being constructed at UHW to accommodate the developing MS Team. The building will house the 2 Consultant Neurologists, 4 MS Nurses, 2 physiotherapists and an occupational therapist. The recruitment of the additional team members is in progress including an additional Consultant & 2 MS Nurses. The centre will operate on a 'hub and spoke' model with outreach clinics being planned throughout the region. The team will work with local agencies to plan and improve service in local centres reducing the necessity for people to travel to Cardiff for specialist care. Nurse led clinics will allow the nursing team to work more efficiently and increase the number of people seen. An MS administrator has been appointed to assist in the running of the centre and to co-ordinate the MS Risk Sharing Scheme. There are now 60 people receiving disease modifying drugs through UHW. Morriston Hospital, Swansea The Prescribing Centre in Swansea is one of only two centres across the UK that is not currently up and running. The good news is that after several meetings with representatives of the relevant Local Health Board's, their business plan has now been approved and recruitment has commenced. This will mean an additional Consultant Neurologist, two & half MS Nurses covering south west Wales, a physiotherapist and additional support staff. At this stage we cannot tell you when prescribing will re-commence but we are monitoring the situation carefully and would like to hear from anyone waiting for assessment. Despite these problems 75 people are receiving disease modifying drugs in south west Wales Walton Centre, Liverpool (North Wales) Prescribing of disease modifying drugs has taken place since the commencement of the Scheme in May 2002. There are currently 62 people receiving these drugs through the Walton Centre. A business case is under discussion to provide an additional out-patient clinic at the Countess of Cheshire hospital to allow MS patients to be seen in a more local setting. We will keep you updated on progress but in the meantime perhaps you have suggestions on how your needs can be best met. We can feed these into the regular meetings that take place to monitor the Risk Sharing Scheme in Wales. Progress Statement Progress has been slow but the longer term benefits for the MS community should not be underestimated. Whilst only approximately 10-12% of us in Wales will meet the ABN criteria for receiving these drugs, everyone within the MS community will benefit from the increased staffing levels; 2 new Consultants is the equivalent of a 25% increase on existing levels; 4 and half new MS nurses is over a 100% increase. | |
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