Innovation in the MS Physiotherapy Service in St. James’s Hospital

The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Unit in St. James’s Hospital provides multi-disciplinary care for people with MS and includes a neurologist, an advanced nurse practitioner and a MS nurse specialist, a clinical specialist occupational therapist and a clinical specialist physiotherapist (Dr Gillian Quinn).

The physiotherapy service for people with MS is for:

• People newly diagnosed with MS in order to obtain a baseline assessment of physical function.
• People with MS who are experiencing any change in symptoms or new symptoms.
• People experiencing an acute relapse of MS.
• People with more progressive MS with the aim of maintaining their function, independence and quality of life at the highest possible level.

The physiotherapy service provides sessions on a one to one basis and in group settings (both online and in person). Service users have welcomed the option of online classes as it’s convenient and sometimes fatigue can be a barrier to travelling to the physiotherapy department for a physiotherapy session. Some of the most common issues that affect people with MS are limitations of walking and problems with balance and falls. Due to technological advances in the rehabilitation field, new and exciting treatment options are now available to help improve these issues.

In the past 12 months, I was successful in certain funding applications that have helped to enhance the service. I was  awarded SPARK seed funding from the HSE to enable the use of Vertigenius (https://vertigenius.com/), a mobile health app for people with dizziness and balance impairment - symptoms that are very common among people with MS. Research that we carried out in the MS Unit in St. James’s Hospital showed that use of the app with people with MS resulted in significant improvements in self-reported measures of dizziness and imbalance as well as in physical measures of gaze stability and balance. This type of exercise intervention delivered via an app is especially useful for patients who live further away as their consultation can be done via video call and their exercise programme can be updated remotely. This research was awarded a poster presentation prize at the International MS Rehabilitation Conference (RIMS) in 2023. The research study has now been fully analysed and written up and the published results can be found here https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fresc.2024.1406926

Gillian Quinn at the International MS rehabilitation Conference in 2023.

I was also successful in my application for Trinity College Dublin Med Day funding and funds received were used to purchase a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) kit to improve walking for people with MS and people post stroke. Many people with MS and people post stroke have weakness in their ankle muscles that results in foot drop and limits their walking endurance, walking quality, walking speed and increases their risk of falls. The FES device works by stimulating the ankle muscles that work to lift the foot and clear the ground sufficiently when walking. If the foot drop improves and the person can walk for longer and with a better quality of movement, it can help to reduce their risk of falls, increase their walking endurance and overall fitness and have a positive impact on their overall quality of life. As technology advances, the range of treatment options for people with neurological conditions increases and in St. James’s hospital we strive to keep up to date with the most recent developments and evidence based practice, and to offer our service users the best possible rehab solutions to help them manage their condition well and live a full and meaningful life.

Gillian is pictured above in Trinity College Dublin at the official launch of Med Day 2023.