What we are doing
The national audit of services for people with multiple sclerosis was a clinically-led audit of the organisation, resourcing and performance of NHS services for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England and Wales, funded by the Royal College of Physicians and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The primary goal was to improve care for all people with multiple sclerosis.
Two audit rounds were conducted, resulting in reports in 2008 and 2011.
Overarching findings:
- There has been no major improvement in many aspects of service provision for people with MS that have been audited since 2006.
- None of the six key recommendations made by NICE in 2003 have been implemented widely or fully.
- The sentinel marker proposed by NICE, the prevalence of skin pressure ulcers, has dropped from 9% to 4% over five years, as reported by people with MS.
- Seven of the 11 quality requirements of the NSF-LTC are particularly relevant to people with MS; all showed a low level of attainment and they will not be achieved by the target date of 2015.
- One-third of trusts have no plans to improve neurological services in the next year.
