An audit of commissioning, provision, and experience of services used by people with multiple sclerosis in 2005-6, against recommendations from NICE Clinical Guideline 8
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease present in about two people every thousand, but it affects many more - family members, friends, employers and healthcare services to name but a few. It is one of the most common causes of severe acquired disability in people aged less than 65 years.
Formal audit of services for people with MS has been impeded by several factors. These include the lack of agreed standards, the lack of an easily accessible register of patients to form a sampling frame, the huge range of health services involved, and the importance of non-health services to people with MS.
The 2004 NICE guideline Multiple sclerosis: national clinical guideline for diagnosis and management in primary and secondary care included 182 recommendations but identified six key priorities for implementation plus one additional recommendation as a sentinel marker of service quality.
This audit was undertaken using the NICE guideline as a basis, specifically investigating the extent to which the seven NICE recommendations have been implemented within the NHS