26.11.19
MS Trust launches campaign to illustrate nurse shortages
A desperate lack of MS nurses in the UK has forced the MS Trust to today (Nov 26th) launch its #fairMScare campaign to raise awareness of the shortage.
Latest figures show there are now approximately 130,000 people in the UK with MS, an increase of 21% on previous estimates. These nurses provide vital care for patients but many are missing out, simply because there are not enough nurses to meet the demand.
The MS Trust believe that everyone with MS should have access to an MS specialist nurse. MS nurses are vital for people living with MS. They help them adjust to diagnosis, consider complicated treatment options, manage a wide range of symptoms and learn to live well with an unpredictable, often debilitating, lifelong condition.
80% of people with MS are living in areas where MS nurses have caseloads in excess of the sustainable figure of 315, and of those people, nearly a quarter (36,000) live in areas where caseloads are twice the recommend level. This means that people with MS are missing out on vital care and nurses are overloaded.
MS nurses also save the NHS money, research has found that the MS Trust’s specialist nurse programme demonstrate that each nurse that the MS Trust funds saves an average of £72k, in fewer hospital admissions, visits to A&E, neurologists and GPs.
With clear benefits to those with MS as well as the NHS, the MS Trust is working hard to address the shortage of MS nurses. Through its Specialist Nurse Programme, the charity has already funded seven extra nurses in the areas across the UK that need them most.
David Martin, CEO at the MS Trust, said: “MS specialist nurses do a fantastic job, but they are coming under increasing pressure to deliver the same exceptional level of care while taking on more and more patients. As a result, we know that many people with MS are missing out on the specialist support they need and deserve.
“This is simply not right or fair. We’ve launched our new campaign to highlight this desperate shortage of MS nurses across the UK, and we now call on the government and health ministers to work with us to ensure people with MS are not left to manage their MS alone.”