Parkinson's and Other Movement Disorders HIT review of 2014-15

Dr Alan Whone, Director of the Parkinson’s and Other Movement Disorders Health Integration Team (MOVE HIT), gives an update on the HIT’s progress in 2014-15.

The Bristol Brain Centre at Southmead Hospital opens in May
2015, following a big fundraising push. This will be the home of the clinical
care and research facility for Parkinson’s and other movement disorders at
North Bristol Trust, along with dementia and multiple sclerosis. This provides
the hub for our hub and spoke model for Parkinson’s services across Bristol,
North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) and will enable full
integration of holistic service provision with clinical research. Our patient
and public involvement group was consulted and has influenced the design and
furnishings of the centre.

As well as clinic space, the centre has a Parkinson’s
information support room staffed by Parkinson’s UK and trained patients, and a
gym for physical rehabilitation and self-management classes. There is a
day-case unit for advanced therapies such as deep brain stimulation and brain
infusions of experimental nerve growth factor (GDNF) for Parkinson’s. Our charity
appeal part-funded this centre, with fundraising and events led by our local Parkinson’s
population.

We have the results of our audit of BNSSG Parkinson’s
service provision from Neurological Commissioning Support. The audit showed
that though professionals are delivering a high standard of care, there is a
need for support at a strategic level and greater joined up working across our
region if we are to remove disparities and achieve key performance indicators.

The next step is to develop a fully integrated Parkinson’s
pathway, accessible to professionals, including GPs, online. This will not only
signpost services, but will include evidence based recommendations and
literature, guidelines and referral details. Commissioners from North Somerset
and South Gloucestershire, along with the Chief Executive of Parkinson’s UK,
attended our launch meeting for the pathway project and working groups are
underway.

Our research programme aims to improve quality of life for
people living with Parkinson’s. It has two arms. The first aims to address
unmet symptom needs, ‘helping people with Parkinson’s live better today’. The
results of the ReSPonD trial, evaluating the effect of Rivastigmine on gait in
Parkinson’s, will be released later this year. The other arm addresses unmet
neuro-protective and neuro-restorative needs, ‘giving people with Parkinson’s
hope for the future’. Our internationally awaited trial assessing whether
monthly brain infusions of GDNF can restore neurones and reverse Parkinson’s,
has just completed recruitment with 42 subjects having undergone novel
neurosurgery.

We are looking forward to the year ahead, as our hub gets up
and running and our trials begin to yield results.