Containing analysis carried out by independent experts, the report - The Case for Proactive Neurological Care - shows that proactive care early in someone’s life, such as self-management support and advice or respite care, can save in the region of 30–50% annually when compared to reactive care, i.e. when someone’s health requires urgent care.

Proactive neurological care saves the public purse money

“There’s no doubt that people with neurological conditions should get proactive specialist care and support such as respite care, physiotherapy and self-management support and advice as soon as they need it," says Pamela Mackenzie, our Director of Neurological Services and Scotland.

"For someone with a devastating condition such as motor neurone disease or Huntington’s disease, this is the right thing to do, and is something we’d like to see provided for everyone with a neurological condition. However, while we’ve always suspected it, we’ve not known until now that proactive neurological care also saves the public purse money," she continues.

"So, while it may seem prudent to avoid bearing the financial costs of providing specialist care and support for people with neurological conditions when they need it, providing support early on actually saves money as well as providing a better quality of life," confirms Pamela.

Reactive care results in longer spells spent in hospital - and more often

The report shows that if someone with motor neurone disease was to receive reactive care they’d have more frequent and extended stays in hospital.

This would result in the average costs of their care being up to £193,000 each year compared with around £84,000 for someone who is receiving proactive care and support at home from a multi-disciplinary team.

Analyses of care pathways for someone with acquired brain injury and with Huntington’s disease also show significant savings for the public purse if proactive care is put in place.

"We will now be using this evidence to demonstrate the need for better investment in proactive neurological care because we want to see everyone who has a neurological condition get the specialist care and support they need from the moment they need it," concludes Pamela.