Award winning MS and maternal medicine service

Our Head of nursing Ruth Stross interviewed three of the team members behind Sheffield's one of a kind joint MS and maternal medicine service. The service began as an MS Academy intermodule project and has recently won an award after being nominated by their colleagues and peers for their exceptional collaborative work.

Specialist nurse Daisy Cam, neurologist Azza Ismail, and obstetrician Tess Bonnett talk to Ruth about the reason why this service is needed,the practicalities of how they run it, and the benefits the service brings to both patients and the staff supporting them.

There is also helpful content for others considering a similar service as they discuss the challenges they faced in setting up the service and the small starting points which got the service off the ground.

In a recent article on Sheffield Teaching Hospitals' website, Nina Buckley who has recently used the joint service shared her views on it,comparing her recent experiences with an earlier pregnancy without the support of a similar service. She says:

'When I became pregnant with my son in early 2022 I was referred to the MS pregnancy clinic. My first appointment was via video link with Dr Ismail, Dr Bonnett and Daisy. It was absolutely brilliant to have the ability to just sit down and go through everything.

It's the familiarity and continuity, and not having to explain what medication I'm on and the implications of that. It was so smooth, I was able to plan so much at the 12-week appointment…'

You can find the initial intermodule project here, read a summary of its success so far in MS education with impact (2022) and hear more of Nina's experiences here.