Project Name: Basildon MS Service and Capacity Redesign

Project Summary:
The Collaborative Working Project aims to understand the Basildon University Hospital Multiple Sclerosis (MS) pathways as part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and recruit one MS Coordinator to support only the Basildon University Hospital MS service with the administration side of the management, review, and follow-ups of MS patients. This will address the staff shortages being experienced by the Basildon University Hospital MS Service part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and help tackle the backlog of patients not on disease modifying therapy, requiring treatment reviews, and new patients entering the MS Service.

Specifically, via conducting the pathway mapping and integrating the MS Coordinator into all aspects of the service, the Collaborative Working Project aims to:

  • Support the MS Service to improve efficiency, service effectiveness, and address the local challenges for the benefit of patient care
  • Improve the delegation of activities to ensure the most qualified staff are providing the right MS Service
  • Reassigning released nurse capacity to enhance patient management and optimisation of therapies

Planned Milestones:

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust Planned Milestones Table

Expected Benefits:

Expected benefits to NHS

  • Improved understanding of the current MS service pathway and associated efficiencies and inefficiencies, with a potential to lead to solutions to enhance patient experience and outcomes. 
  • Reduced administration burden on nursing staff 
  • Increased number of Clinical Nurse Specialist led activities 
  • Decreased the administration burden of the nurse team 
  • Reduced the waiting time and aligned to 18-week NHS ambition

Expected benefits to Patients

  • Improved patient outcomes due to faster time from referral to treatment time 
  • Improved access to NICE recommended therapy 
  • Enhanced patient experience of the NHS MS service by reducing unnecessary waiting time

Expected benefits to Novartis

  • Understand opportunities to partner with the NHS to enhance patient outcomes and experience
  • Learnings relating to the involvement of MS Coordinators within the MS Service
  • Better understanding of overall  NHS customers’ and patients’ needs;
  • Optimal use of medicines (including Novartis medicines) in appropriate patients

Start Date & Duration: October 2022 & 20 months duration

UK2210317973