Care professionals with experience in Parkinson’s urged to join network

A new network hoping to revolutionise care for people with Parkinson’s has issued a call for professionals to join.

This week, 300 health and social care professionals and people affected by Parkinson’s joined Parkinson’s UK at an event in London to launch the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network.

Under the clinical direction of Professor David Burn, Director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Professor of Movement Disorders Neurology at Newcastle University, the Excellence Network will draw together professionals across the health and social care sector to fundamentally improve the care provided to people with Parkinson’s from the point of diagnosis onwards.  

Led by the wider health and social care sector and informed by the voices of people with Parkinson’s, the Excellence Network is the only initiative to draw together a range of professionals and patients to revolutionise the quality of care for people with Parkinson’s.

Professor David Burn, Clinical Director at the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network, said; “The heart of what we want is better services and experiences for our patients, regardless of where they live. Not everyone is cared for by expert clinicians and many patients don’t get the information and support they need to manage their condition. We need to equip professionals so that they can influence the service offered locally and initiate change where services are falling short of excellent. However, we can only do this if we can harness the energy and talents of everyone with an interest in Parkinson’s – patients, professionals, Parkinson’s UK, and the wider Parkinson’s community worldwide.

“The Parkinson’s Excellence Network is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. That end is first class care for each and every one of the 127,000 people in this country who are living with Parkinson’s. The hard work begins now”

Dr Peter Carter, OBE, Chief Executive & General Secretary Royal College of Nursing said; “The UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network will offer an important opportunity for health and social care professionals to share their expertise and drive forward Parkinson’s care and I fully support the aims of this exciting initiative. The collaboration it will facilitate promises to help improve services and transform care for people affected by Parkinson’s through the development of new benchmarking tools and through bringing people together in their work on research and service delivery.”

Helen Gordon, Chief Executive at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said; “Committing to excellence, sharing best practice and supporting each other though change are vital elements to improving care for people. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is committed to working collaboratively with Parkinson’s UK to improve care for people. We look forward to discussing with Parkinson’s UK about how best we can support this new network.”

Simon Stevens, CEO at NHS England, is backing the Network. He said: “The Excellence Network will play an important role improving the lives of tens of thousands of people living with Parkinson’s and is great example of how a one-stop-shop for collaboration, evidence, education and resources can drive real improvement in health and care services.”

Anyone interested in joining the Network and keeping up-to-date about its development can subscribe to the mailing list. Any questions about the Network can be emailed to [email protected]

For further information, visit: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/excellencenetwork