Website of the Department of Health

The DDC aims to minimise the time between referral and completion of tests by offering same day tests and follow-up within four weeks. The clinic allocates a 45 minute initial appointment with the Consultant Neurologist and MS nurse and provides access to key diagnostic tests for MS, as appropriate. Follow-up appointments for all people are scheduled to allow 45 minutes with the neurologist and MS nurse followed by a further 30 minutes with the MS nurse in a quiet room.

The clinic provides continuity so that people seeing the same doctor and nurse, and provides access to professionals with expertise in MS. The structure provides an appropriate setting and experienced professional support to deal with the initial psychological impact of the diagnosis. The clinic offers ongoing support through health promotion and self-management programmes.

All people newly diagnosed and their families are offered one-to-one appointments, and have access to a structured educational programme 'Working together to understand Multiple Sclerosis'.

An audit of the service showed shorter waiting times from referral to first appointment and faster receipt of investigation results, when compared with two existing diagnostic service models within the same hospital, (the general neurology clinic and the inpatient investigation unit).

Reference:

Porter B, Thompson A (2001) 'Management of the diagnostic phase of multiple sclerosis: a comparison of three models'. Mult Scler 7:S120

Porter B, Keenan E (2003) 'A specialist diagnostic clinic for Multiple Sclerosis'. British Journal of Nursing Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 650-656.