The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published updated guidance for the NHS on the management of MS.

MS is a life-long condition of the central nervous system. It affects both the brain and spinal cord. Typical early symptoms include, limb weakness, incoordination, loss of sight, and bladder and bowel problems. The causes of MS are complex and not completely understood and there is currently no cure.

Professor Mark Baker, clinical practice director at NICE, said: “About 100,000 people in the UK have MS, with symptoms usually appearing in younger people. It can be a highly disabling condition that people live with for many years.

“MS can significantly affect a person’s quality of life: they may have to give up work and may also struggle with their mobility. We know that people with MS tend to die earlier than others. This is why it is important to give people access to the best treatments and specialists who can help them live as normal and as long a life as possible.”

Currently, those with MS can be left for more than a year without having their condition and medication monitored. The updated NICE guidance aims to ensure that people with MS have their condition and treatments reviewed more regularly.

It recommends that every person with MS has a comprehensive review of all aspects of their care at least once a year and that multidisciplinary teams should oversee the care they receive. These teams should include neurologists, MS nurses, GPs, psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists.

Dr Paul Cooper, Consultant Neurologist at the Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre and Chair of the Guideline Development Group (GDG), said: “People with MS should have someone to ask for specialist advice about their disabling and distressing symptoms.

“Currently some people are receiving excellent care and support but others around the country are not. The care someone receives should not depend on where they live, we want to ensure that throughout the country people with this distressing and disabling disease have prompt access to specialists who understand their needs and can help improve their condition.

“It is also important that those with suspected MS see a consultant neurologist promptly, diagnosis can be difficult, but it is important to get it right because MS has life-long consequences for the patient. The diagnosis should be made by a neurologist, and not on the basis of a scan.”

Other key recommendations for healthcare professionals to follow include:

• Referring people with suspected MS to a consultant neurologist.

• Offering people with MS an appropriate single point of contact to speak about their care, concerns and different treatment options.

• Encouraging people with MS to exercise and offering supervised exercise programmes for those who struggle with mobility and fatigue.

The guidance does not recommend fampridine or the cannabinoid drug Sativex.  A detailed analysis of the evidence led the Guideline Development Group to conclude that there are better treatments available already on the NHS.

Dr Paul Cooper continued: “The substantial cost of sativex and fampridine compared to the modest benefit does not justify their use; there are better ways to improve care for people with MS.”

The updated NICE guidance on the management of MS is available to download from the NICE website.

Ends

For more information call the NICE press office on 0845 003 7782 or out of hours on 07775 583 813.

Notes to editors

About the guidance

The guideline will be available on the NICE website at /guidance/CG186 from Wednesday 8 October 2014.