Commissioning Support

An essential part of service transformation is to engage with, and educate at a management and commissioning level. From national and local pathway design, to data intelligence and optimising data interpretation to improve services, the Commissioning Support Academy equips everyone in our neurology community with the tools they need to transform services and change lives.

Commissioning support comes in many forms: data intelligence, service analysis and redesign, business case planning, pathway development.

As an essential element of service transformation, commissioning support elements can be found across all our work, and forms part of the education in every MasterClass. As the commissioning structures change, helping healthcare professionals understand where they 'fit' in the wider model is an important part of equipping them with the confidence and skills to effect service change.

As well as grassroots education, we also support neurology commissioning at a managerial level through our Neurology Network Managers Meetings (NNMM). Many service managers and commissioners don't really understand the complexity and interconnectedness of neurology services, or of how to create an optimal experience for people with neurological conditions.

The NNMM supports service managers to promote the commissioning of high quality, outcomes focused, value for money neurology services that align to Integrated Care System models and Primary Care Networks.

Projects, pathways and data intelligence

Core elements of commissioning support include service analysis and redesign, which is common to most of our intermodule projects. Just a few examples of current projects we're supporting include:

• Development of an MS care pathway in Liverpool
• Analysis of disease-modifying treatment therapy access and time to treatment in Sheffield
• Training around Mild Cognitive Impairment identification and treatment in Manchester

Excellent examples of how our MasterClasses have affected service transformation over the years can be found in the ongoing work of many of our Faculty, such as those included in our Stars series to commemorate Parkinson's Academy's 16th birthday.

We support national care pathway development too, seeking to impact commissioning decisions and influence policy. Some of the national pathway work we have supported can be found in our resources, and includes:

• The dementia care pathway
• the Brain Health Clinic blueprint
• a Spinal Muscular Atrophy pathway

Data intelligence is an essential part of understanding all elements of neurology services from population needs to service access, timespans to diagnosis and access to treatments, emergency admissions, costs of good versus poor care, and more.

Some examples of this in action include:

• COVID-19's impact on Parkinson's
• COVID-19's impact on neurology services
• Avoidable emergency admissions in MS

Service transformation is one of the key elements of the MasterClass programme – supporting our delegates to examine their current services and where required, to restructure them to better consider the needs of patients, the workforce, and the service. These examples from Eastbourne, Richmond and Sheffield illustrate how some of our delegates have undertaken service transformations in the past.

NHS Reset and Reform: A new direction for health and care in multiple sclerosis

'NHS Reset and Reform: A new direction for health and care in multiple sclerosis' is a brand new report assessing the current challenges facing multiple sclerosis (MS) services and presenting a roadmap to recovery. The difficulties in MS services resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, compound those already apparent - overstretched, underfunded, inequitable services. This report brings together the expert views of multiple stakeholders across the MS community to present a series of possible solutions to the current challenges.