Social-services support for multiple sclerosis patients in West of Scotland

A survey has been carries out of 104 patients with multiple sclerosis (m.s.) in West-Central-Scotland. All patients were living at home, and success of services to assist them in the community was examined. The partients were aged 16-65 years and had permanent disability, many being severely handicapped. Regular hospital follow-up was more common among the least disabled. 24 patients had never seen a social worker. Many patients had experienced problems with employment but 37 per cent of these had never registered with a disablement resettlement officer. After advice 10 additional patients applied successfully for an attendance allowance. Legislation requires local authorities to compile a register of the disabled and give information on services available to them. Only 19 patients were registered, however, and no one had received any information from a local authority. Many of these M.S. patients had failed to establish or maintain contact with available services. These results indicate a need for reorganisation of the support for the chronically disabled, possibly by setting up regular clinics for assessment and management, as recommended by the Tunbridge report (1972).