01/02/10

NHS Gloucestershire has been working with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to review neurological services in Gloucestershire, including the provision for respite care.

Ermin Neurological Centre (previously known as Ermin House) was opened in 1975 for patients with neurological conditions. The remit of the unit has changed over time but until recently it provided a range of services and interventions including: Non elective inpatient care including Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), Specialist neurological palliative care for patients with MND, Elective inpatients (predominantly respite for patients with MS) and Day case treatment for relapsing MS patients receiving Intravenous infusions.

Currently, most respite services for people with a long term neurological condition in Gloucestershire are provided at Ermin Neurological Centre in Gloucester.

NHS Gloucestershire (formerly Gloucestershire PCT) has decided to review respite services in response to a growing number of requests from patients that require respite care for neurological conditions for a greater choice of providers and to be able to access services closer to their homes.

As part of this review, NHS Gloucestershire, jointly with Gloucestershire County Council Community and Adult Care Directorate, carried out an assessment of eligibility for NHS Funding.

Patients who have received some form of respite care in the past eighteen months were offered a Specialist Assessment of Care Needs and assessed for eligibility for funded nursing care or continuing health care funding.

At the NHS Gloucestershire Board meeting last week, a decision was made to move respite services to other providers. Gloucestershire Hospitals will no longer be expected to provide respite services in the unit from 1st April 2010.

Dr Sally Pearson, Director of Clinical Strategy, said:

“Ermin Neurological Centre has been a valued service for many years, but the MS Respite Service formed a large part of the work carried out on site.

“We will make a decision on the future of the Centre following a review of the condition of the building and the options for the other services provided on site such as rehabilitation and day cases. Our staff who work at Ermin have been briefed throughout the review."