Monthly Archives: April 2013

Carer treated with nothing but contempt and it’s just so unfair

Anna Ferdinando given two weeks to leave her grandmother’s two-bed house in Hill Road

A mother and her seven-month-old son are being evicted from their home by Haringey Borough Council because she did not claim benefits.

Anna Ferdinando, of Hill Road, Muswell Hill, and her son Arthur are being forced to leave her late grandmother Helene McPhillips’ council house because she did not claim Carer’s Allowance.

Postcode lottery of care for Scots MS sufferers

GLARING gaps in the treatment and support available for multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers in Scotland are revealed in a report out today – described as a sobering wake-up call for the health service.

According to the study, only about one-third of sufferers who could benefit from life-transforming medicines are taking them – one of the worst rates in Europe.

Four NHS boards are failing to meet official standards for giving patients access to the range of specialists they need, according to the research by the MS Society.

The report, titled A Lottery of Treatment and Care – MS Services across Scotland and the UK, reveals one-quarter of patients say they cannot see a neurologist when they need help with their symptoms.

Christine Carlin, director of the charity in Scotland, says in the foreword: “This report should be a sobering wake-up call for all of us working to improve the lives of people with MS in the UK.

Most multiple sclerosis patients in UK 'receiving inadequate care

60% of sufferers not getting ‘disease-modifying treatments’, which may lower intensity and frequency of attacks

Multiple sclerosis – musicians in Birmingham attempt to smash the record for the most drummers to play the same beat at the same time to raise awareness of the disease. Photograph: David Jones/AP

Thousands of people with multiple sclerosis are not getting drugs or the care and support they need, according to a campaign launched today by a support charity.

Six out of 10 people with MS are not receiving what are called “disease-modifying treatments”, which are not cures but may reduce the frequency and intensity of attacks and slow progression of disability.

The MS Society is launching a campaign for better care and support of the estimated 100,000 people who have the neurological condition, which is usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.