Project Name: St George’s MS Capacity redesign

Project Summary:

The Project aims to redesign the MS service across the CW Partner Trust with the addition of an MS Disease Modifying Therapy (“DMT”) coordinator to support the management, monitoring and onward referral of DMT patients. This will address the capacity issues being experienced by the CW Partner, help to tackle the backlog of patients and address the risk of delays in starting and switching treatments. Furthermore, it will also support the welfare of the staff as the current patient numbers passing through the service are unsustainable and unmanageable for the NHS staff. The addition of this role will allow the clinical work to be more evenly distributed throughout the team, thus allowing increased time for other activities, such as, presence on the ward, educational activities and general patient care.

Specifically, via integrating the MS DMT coordinator into the service, the CWP aims to:

  • improve patient outcomes and experience by reducing time between referral, diagnosis, and treatment, and increasing awareness of the MS pathway and  their care options;
  • supporting the NHS team with management of patient databases
  • ensure essential safety monitoring for MS treatments, and reduce the risk of delays in repeat prescriptions

Planned Milestones:

  1. Project kick off meeting and set up of subsequent quarterly reviews
  2. Recruitment of DMT coordinator with baseline measurements   submitted. Define roles and responsibilities of DMT coordinator
  3. 6 month data collection
  4. 9 month data collection
  5. 12 month data collection
  6. Business case written & submitted
  7. Project Outcomes Summary completed

Expected Benefits:

Anticipated benefits for 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 times.

Anticipated benefits for the CW Partner:

  • Improved quality of care;
  • Reduction in patient waiting lists;
  • Improved MDT efficiency and outcomes;
  • Improved experience of staff by spreading workload.

Anticipated Benefits for Novartis

  • Learnings relating to the involvement of MS DMT coordinator at MDTs;
  • Better understanding of overall customers’ and patients’ needs;
  • Optimal use of medicines (including Novartis medicines) in appropriate patients.

Start Date & Duration: May 2023 for 18 months

UK | May 2023 | UK2305244957