Neurology
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Barbara Coyle
Introduction
A long-term neurological condition results from disease of, injury or damage to the body’s nervous system (ie the brain, spinal cord and/or their peripheral nerve connections) which will affect the individual and their family in one way or another for the rest of their life. There is a wide variety of long-term neurological conditions and people have very different experiences. Conditions may be present at birth (eg cerebral palsy) and some of these may be associated with varying degrees of learning disability. Other conditions appear in childhood (eg muscular dystrophy) or develop during adulthood (eg Parkinson’s disease).
The Long-term (Neurological) Conditions National Service Framework (NSF) was launched in March 2005. The NSF aims to transform the way health and social care services support people to live with long-term neurological conditions. Key themes are independent living, care planned around the needs and choices of the individual, easier, timely access to services and joint working across all agencies and disciplines involved. The principles of the NSF are also relevant to service development for other long-term conditions.
Highlight figures
In 2007/08, there were over 12,000 admissions attributable to a neurological condition in the North East
8 million people in the UK suffer from migraine and approximately 10 million people across the UK have a neurological condition. These account for 20% of acute hospital admissions and are the third most common reason for seeing a GP.
Around 17 people in a population of 100,000 are likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, and two people in a population of 100,000 experience a traumatic spinal injury every year.
An estimated 350,000 people across the UK need help with daily living because of a neurological condition and 850,000 people care for someone with a neurological condition.
