Reviewing spasticity management for people with neurological conditions

What is muscle spasticity?

Spasticity refers to feelings of stiffness and a wide range of involuntary muscle spasms (ongoing muscle contractions or sudden movements).

Brief description of project

Some patients with neurological conditions (nerves or nervous system) experience muscle spasticity: interventions include injecting botulinum toxin (botox) into the muscles as well as therapy support and guidance which take place in a spasticity management clinic. Currently patients who need spasticity management appointments, are seen by a consultant. Sometimes patients are also seen by an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist.

We  reviewed how these clinic appointments ran, and an area we are considering is for a physiotherapist with a specialist understanding of spasticity and movement to join the clinic. We ran a six-month trial to see if having both a consultant and a specialist physiotherapist working together in clinic would lead to an improvement in care.

Who did we speak to?

There will be approximately 72 patients seen across the trial and we spoke to 70 patients.

What and how did we ask?

We asked people to share their thoughts and experiences of using the spasticity clinic during the trial. Including whether patients feel having a specialist physiotherapist together with the doctor in clinic is working well as well as their ideas of what could make it better. We  did this using one-to-one telephone interviews and an online survey.

What did people tell us?

People told us:

• A letter was the preferred communication method followed by email.
• Everyone found it a positive experience seeing a doctor and physiotherapist together at the appointment.
• Patients and carers felt their experience in the clinic was positive and valued the opportunity of seeing a doctor and physiotherapist together.
• Most people understood their goal and felt that they were on the right path to achieve it.
• Staff were also very positive about the MDT approach and felt that it benefitted both patients and staff.

You can read the full report below

View the spasticity engagement report (Microsoft word version)

How can you help?

We can’t improve health and care without your help. Join the Leeds Involving You network to find out more about our work and get involved.

What are we doing?

All the feedback we received will be considered. We analysed and themed the responses and wrote an engagement report that outlined the findings and provide recommendations to the commissioning team.

If you would like to read more information about this engagement please see the resource section below.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about this engagement please contact Helen Butters at [email protected] or 0113 221 7777

Resources:

Find out more about this project by exploring the documents below. The links will take you to an online version of the document. You can download copies of these documents there:

• Involvement plan

View the spasticity involvement plan (Microsoft word version)

• Patient information and survey