A team of doctors, nurses, therapists and social care staff has been named the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network’s inaugural ‘winner of winners’ with the Excellence Award, recognising outstanding excellence in the sector.
The multi-disciplinary, integrated team from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, pioneered a unique cross-working with City Health Care Partnership, NHS Hull CCG and was led by Consultant Geriatrician Thomas Mace to scoop the ‘Innovation in Practice’ award and the overall inaugural Excellence Award at today’s virtual awards ceremony. To win the Excellence Award, they beat the winners of the other two award categories: Sharing, Learning and Education, and Person-Centred Care.
Designed to be a ‘one stop shop’, the “Parkinson’s hub”, an integrated care pathway for people living with Parkinson’s and frailty, was commissioned by the Hull Clinical Commissioning group (CCG) and was part of its strategy to address Parkinson’s – the fastest growing neurological condition in the world – within its community. The Hub works both proactively and reactively to support people with the condition, their carers and family to live well and reduce emergency hospital admissions.
The judges said: “It is a great project that has people affected by Parkinson’s at its very heart. It has received excellent service-user feedback. It is a really comprehensive, joined-up and holistic service for patients and good for multidisciplinary teams (MDT) skill sharing.”
A focus group of Parkinson’s UK members, their partners and carers identified the following needs: education, quick access to specialists, expertise from healthcare professionals and quicker medication changes.
In response, the hub created a community-based, multidisciplinary-led service offering comprehensive Parkinson’s assessments. Health and social care professionals from the NHS, social care, private and voluntary sector worked together as one team. Multi-disciplinary assessments held included general health, nutrition, swallowing, speech issues, oral health, sleep and impulsive compulsive disorder assessments, continence and bowel function and signposting to charities and social care.
Dr. Mace said: “We are so proud and humbled with this award. It’s testament to the hard
work and dedication of everyone involved in creating a unique, innovative hub to help
people with Parkinson’s and their families live well.
“The integrated service makes tangible improvements in people’s and their carers’ quality of life. We work together to help patients achieve their goals, ensure they feel supported and knowledgeable about their condition, reduce troubling symptoms and emergency hospital admissions.
“We hope that by sharing our learning experience from the hub, we will inspire and
encourage colleagues across the UK to discuss and consider working in an integrated and
holistic fashion across organisations and services, ensuring that people living with
Parkinson’s and their carers and families experience improved continuity of care.”
The judges, including a panel of Parkinson’s health and service professionals, as well as patients, praised the Hull hub for its overwhelming dedication to innovating good practice and striving to improve the experience of people with Parkinson’s.
Clinical Director of the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network Dr Donald Grosset said:
“This year the quality of entries was exceptional, and I would like to congratulate Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, City Health Care Partnership, NHS Hull CCG for a truly team effort on their well-deserved success, outstanding feedback and for being at the forefront of pioneering truly innovative Parkinson’s care.
We were impressed by the exemplary care given to people with Parkinson’s and the difference the hub is making to people’s lives. It shows the difference we can make by working in collaboration. Their work is a deserving winner of the inaugural Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network Award, recognising the very best of work on display in Parkinson’s care.”
The winners were announced at a virtual event co-hosted by Parkinson’s UK’s President Jane Asher and Terence Manning, a former head teacher living with Parkinson’s, who judged entries.
Jane Asher said: “I love these awards. They give us a chance to celebrate great care for people affected by Parkinson’s. Care that makes a difference not only in the consulting room, but to peoples’ everyday lives in the community.”
The UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network was established in 2015 by Parkinson’s UK, alongside leading clinicians, to drive improvements in Parkinson’s care. It aims to achieve consistent, high-quality Parkinson’s services by sharing evidence, training, tools to support best practice and collaboration. It ensures the views and experiences of people affected by this complex, long-term neurological condition are at the forefront of service improvement.
Parkinson’s is a neurological condition for which there is currently no cure. Every hour, 2 people in the UK are told they have Parkinson’s and it affects 145,000 people across the UK.
To find out more about the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network Awards or the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network, please visit www.parkinsons.org.uk/excellencenetwork or follow the Network on Twitter @ParkinsonsEN.