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Practical guides and useful links
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Below you'll find our collection of guides to managing symptoms and improving services, as well as links to professional organisations, clinical guidelines, policy briefings, reports, and related websites.
Professional organisations
UK MS Specialist Nurse Association (UKMSSNA)
The UKMSSNA is a professional membership organisation for Clinical Nurse Specialists and Therapists in MS. The UKMSSNA provides support, information and education to MS specialists across the UK, to enable them to provide appropriate healthcare services to people affected by MS
Therapists in MS (TiMS)
TiMS is an initiative which brings together allied health professionals who share a special interest in MS. TiMS supports, strengthens and promotes the role of therapy in MS care, and shares expertise among UK therapists working with people with MS. TiMS is supported and facilitated by the MS Trust.
Practical Guides
Funding for MS services in England: a practical guide
- Our 2016 guide to help health professionals understand commissioning (local and specialised) in MS services in England. Correct at time of publication (August 2016).
Eight Steps to Improving Your Relapse Service
- Our 2016 practical consensus guide aimed at MS nurses, GPs and health professionals involved in relapse care for people with MS. In addition, our developing relapse services resources feature downloadable guides to help improve services
MS and sex: a resource for health professionals (PDF, 8mb)
- A 2014 consensus guide for healthcare professionals to enable discussions about key concepts of sexual health and wellbeing, determine the right assessment tools, explore how a sexual history is taken and more. Published by Oyster Healthcare Communications. Biogen paid for the development and printing of this resource, but generated none of the content.
You can also read this useful blog about supporting people with MS to discuss sexual problems in MS by MS nurses Nicki Abel, Denise Middleton and Lesley Catterall.
Bladder consensus resource (PDF, 2.2mb)
- A 2009 leaflet for health professionals summarising a consensus on assessments for bladder problems in MS. This resource helps professionals offer appropriate tests and guidance to people with MS suffering from bladder problems
Clinical guidelines
Treatment Algorithm for Multiple Sclerosis Disease-modifying Therapies
- Treatment Algorithm (September 2018, NHS England) providing a framework to assist decision-making for MS specialists and people with MS, to reduce variation in prescribing across the UK, and to ensure effective, safe prescribing.
Factors influencing multiple sclerosis disease-modifying treatment prescribing decisions in the UK
- An article (Cameron et al, January 2019), outlining a qualitative study to determine variation in prescribing Disease Modifying Drugs (DMDs) across the UK.
Pregnancy guidelines in MS
- Guidelines for pregnancy care in MS, published in January 2019 and endorsed by the Association of British Neurologists. The guidelines bring together evidence from drug specific pregnancy registers and peer reviewed research. (Read the MS Trust news story, 10 January 2019).
NICE Quality Standard: Multiple Sclerosis [QS108]
- This January 2016 quality standard covers the diagnosis and management of MS in adults consisting of a set of specific and measurable statements and drawing on previous guidance
Association of British Neurologists: revised guidelines for prescribing disease-modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis
- This 2015 report represents a consensus by British Neurologists on the use of all approved disease modifying treatments for MS in the UK
NICE Guideline on MS
- These 2014 guidelines define the standards of MS care for the NHS in England: an accompanying Quality Standard was published in 2016
NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policy: Disease Modifying Therapies for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
- NHS England's 2014 criteria for NHS funding of DMT treatment in England
Quality Improvement Scotland Neurological Health Services Clinical Standards
- The 2009 quality standards to be met by neurological services across Scotland, including those for MS
National Service Framework for Long Term Neurological Conditions
- Although no longer current, the 2005 NSF was an influential 10-year plan for improving neurological services in the NHS
Briefings and reports
NHS Long Term Plan (2019)
- Launched in January 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan report sets out NHS England's plan for the NHS for the next 10 years
My MS My Needs: Is access to treatment still a lottery?
- A September 2016 report by the MS Society based on the results of the My MS My Needs survey they conducted, which received over 11,000 responses: this is the largest collection of patient-reported data from the UK MS community to date.
Transforming Community Neurology: What commissioners need to know
- A June 2016 guide produced by the Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network to encourage the adoption of community-based care models to improve the quality of life for people with long-term neurological conditions
Measuring the burden of hospitalisation in multiple sclerosis
- This 2015 disease insight report was jointly written by NHiS Commissioning Excellence and the MS Trust to highlight how better, more cost effective services can be delivered for people with MS
Brain Health: time matters in multiple sclerosis
- This 2015 report presents consensus recommendations on diagnosis, therapeutic strategies and improving access to treatment in MS
Five Year Forward View, NHS England
- A 2014 report that sets out a shared vision for the future of the NHS based around new models of care
National audit of services for people with Multiple Sclerosis
- Audits carried out in 2008 and 2011 by the Royal College of Physicians and the MS Trust
Physiotherapy works: evidence briefing
- A 2011 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy summary of evidence for physiotherapy
Impact of Proactive Case Management by Multiple Sclerosis Specialist Nurses on Use of Unscheduled Care and Emergency Presentation in Multiple Sclerosis
- A 2015 journal article based on a retrospective service evaluation reviewing the impact of the introduction of proactive nurse-led management and a rapid response service on the rates of emergency presentation, hospital admission and bed use.
Other websites
Strategic Clinical Networks
- MS is covered by the 12 Strategic Clinical Networks across England covering Mental Health, Dementia and Neurological Conditions which exist to improve quality and link clinicians together
Sustainability and Transformation Plans
- NHS planning guidance for 16/17-20/21 to help ensure that health and social care services are built around the needs of local populations. To do this, every health and care system in England will produce a multi-year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), showing how local services will evolve and deliver the Five Year Forward View.
Apollo Nursing Resource
- Developed by Ulster University and bringing together numerous resources providing evidence for the value of specialist nurses.
Capturing the impact of nurse consultants
(archived page)
- Developed by Sheffield Hallam University and the Burdett Trust, this website has a useful toolkit on identifying and measuring outcomes
Specialist neuro-rehabilitation service standards: providing for patients with complex rehabilitation needs
- Service standards created by the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine for specialist neuro-rehabilitation services
The King's Fund
- The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. This website contains a number of useful resources, interesting blogs and key publications about health policy in England. In 2017, the King's Fund released a short video - 'How does the NHS in England work? An alternative guide' - which aims to demystify the complex structure of the NHS in England and how it is changing.
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