There are more than 150,00 people living with MS in the UK. We believe that everyone with MS should have access to MS specialists, regardless of where they live, or the type of MS they have.
Through our mapping report, we estimate that 8 in 10 people with MS live in areas where there are not enough MS nurses to provide safe, high-quality care. Our mapping access to MS nursing work, which builds on our MS Forward View project, highlights where MS nurses are most needed. This provides the focus for the Specialist Nurse Programme.
We work with NHS organisations in the UK to improve access to MS specialist nurses and support overall MS service improvement.
A Specialist MS Nurse is a specialist health professional (either a specialist nurse or therapist). They are part of an MS Team and focus on care for people with MS.
What a Specialist Nurse does:
The Specialist Nurse Programme offers a package of support to participating MS teams, which includes:
The MS Trust approaches teams who have been identified as having low numbers of MS specialist nurses in relation to the number of people with MS. The Health Professionals Programme team then works with the local MS team, business manager, and local commissioning groups to determine if the programme would be beneficial. The MS Trust will work with each team to help them build their business case and gain approval before submitting to the programme’s funding panel.
The MS Trust also encourages teams who are facing particular shortages or who have identified a local, unmet need to get in touch. Please feel free to contact the programme staff to discuss your potential involvement. The Health Professionals Programme Team would love to hear from you!
The MS Trust will then work with the team and the NHS Trust to recruit an MS nurse. A permanent contract for the new member of the team will then be established.
We have now moved beyond the pilot and have a rolling programme of funding in place.
Find out how you can support the Specialist Nurse Programme.
If you think that you have a good case for establishing a new MS nurse post, then get in touch!
You will need to complete an application form. This form helps you to detail your current service and explain how it would improve with an extra nurse in post.
You will also need to provide a business case for the permanent funding of the new MS specialist nurse post to be approved by your Trust or Health board. The Health Professionals Programme team can work with you and your managers on this.
If you are interested in applying for funding, have any questions, or would just like to talk it through with a member of the team, get in touch!
Our MS Specialist Nurse posts are up to 80% funded by the MS Trust for the first 15 months. After this, if the post is made permanent, the NHS Trust takes on responsibility for the funding.
“I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work within South Tyneside and Sunderland MS service. It is a speciality which I have always been very interested in and the current growth of the service is very exciting to be a part of. I hope to be an added source of support and guidance for people with MS in our locality.”
Ashley started in post on 27 August 2024.
This role is now permanent.
“My name is Blessing Oluwasanmi, I’m a registered nurse, with a background in public health. I’ve also worked in trauma and orthopaedics for over a year and I’m looking forward to being a multiple sclerosis specialist nurse. My previous roles have given me lots of skills, which I can now take to this new role.”
Blessing started in post on 4 April 2023.
This role is now permanent.
“I am passionate to support and manage the complex and unpredictable symptoms of MS. I’m also pleased to be able to help people with MS gain access to treatments and promote the development of services for MS patients registered with Redbridge GPs.”
Bola started in post on 1 September 2022.
This role is now permanent.
Interviews will soon be taking place.
Interviews have now taken place.
We have been delivering our Specialist Nurse Programme since 2017. Listed below are the posts we have set up and funded for the first 15 months.
