When 8 July 2009 600pm 800pm

What Launch of the APPGs report into inequalities of access to services for people with Parkinsons and their carers.

In response to the report, the Parkinsons Disease Society will also launch Fair Care for Parkinsons, calling for the Government to ensure the APPG report recommendations are carried out.

Where Macmillan Room, Portcullis House, Westminster

An inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Parkinsons has highlighted severe inequalities in access to Parkinsons services, despite the clear standards and evidence base set out in the National Service Framework for long term neurological conditions, and the NICE Parkinsons disease guideline.

Nearly 400 individuals and organisations including national and local health and social care providers, regulators, professional bodies and charities, provided written and oral evidence to the inquiry.

The disturbing findings from this report will be announced on 8 July 2009.

The PDS is launching Fair Care for Parkinsons to ensure all people affected by Parkinsons have equal access to the services they need.

Guest speakers will include

Baroness Gale, Chair, APPG for Parkinsons Disease
Ann Keen MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Health Services
Steve Ford, Chief Executive of the Parkinsons Disease Society
A speaker sharing their experiences of living with Parkinsons

About the APPG for Parkinsons Disease

Chair of the APPG for Parkinsons Disease

Baroness Gale

Officers of the APPG for Parkinsons disease

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff ViceChair
Mark Hunter MP ViceChair
Anne Milton MP ViceChair
Jeremy Browne MP Treasurer
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Secretary
Paul Burstow MP Secretary
Madeleine Moon MP Secretary
The APPG for Parkinsons Disease was established in June 2008 in order to keep Parkinsons disease and relevant public policy issues on the political agenda
The Parkinsons Disease Society (PDS) acts as Secretariat for the APPG for Parkinsons disease
The PDS members survey 2007 Life with Parkinsons today room for improvement identified that access to public services such as the NHS, social services and transport in England for people with Parkinsons and their carers varies considerably

About Parkinsons Disease

Approximately 120,000 people in the UK have Parkinsons
10,000 people are diagnosed in the UK every year, and one in 20 is under 40
Parkinsons is a progressive neurological condition caused by the loss of dopamine in the brain, for which there is currently no cure. Whilst it is not life threatening, Parkinsons seriously affects day to day activities that we take for granted like walking, writing, speaking

Key symptoms are

Tremor

1 Rigid muscles
2 Slowness of movement