COLUMN: Raising awareness of Parkinson's Disease

As a community NHS trust, our '˜bread and butter' is supporting patients either at home or in local clinics or community hospitals.
Andrew MorganAndrew Morgan
Andrew Morgan

The services we provide are wide ranging, supporting families from birth to end of life, and the combined expertise and experience of our 2,000 clinical and non-clinical staff is invaluable.

When I realised it was Parkinson’s Awareness Week this week (April 10-16), I thought it was a great opportunity to talk about how we support patients through some of the specialist nurses in our team.

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust has three nurse specialists and a staff nurse in its community Parkinson’s service. Their role is to help patients manage their symptoms through monitoring medication, supporting access to other health professionals such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists, and educating others to promote a greater understanding.

This not only includes talking to patients and their families and carers, but also other health and social care professionals who might have contact with those managing the condition.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition which affects a person’s movement. The main symptoms are a tremor, slowness of movement and stiff, inflexible muscles.

Nurse specialist Tracey Watt will be supporting an open day for Parkinson’s UK’s Louth branch on Wednesday (April 12) from 10.30am–3pm at Louth’s British Legion. If you’re in the area and would like some advice and support, or would simply like to say hello, please feel free to call in.

You can also contact Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0845 602 4384 or [email protected].

Andrew Morgan is the chief executive of the Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust