Parkinson's Nurse Specialists

There are three Parkinson’s Nurse Specialists for Edinburgh and the Lothians.  Alison Stewart is the lead Parkinson’s Nurse Specialist and has been in post since 1999.  In June 2009 two further Parkinson’s Nurse Specialists were employed, Allison Darbyshire and Tina Daniels.  Our  Parkinson’s secretary, Suzanne Vinall, completes the team.

Our role is to act as an expert resource to other healthcare professionals thereby improving the service they provide to people with Parkinson's and their families.

The unique role of the nurse is:

•           To provide patient education, support and identify the care needs

•           To co-ordinate services for Parkinson’s patients and their families, as part of the care team

•           To co-ordinate care for people with Parkinson’s when in hospital

•           To act as the 'middle man' between therapists, GPs and Consultants.

The Nurses have Nurse Led clinics at the Western General Hospital, St John’s Hospital, Astley Ainslie Hospital and Roodlands Hospital.  We also hold clinics in partnership with Consultants at the Royal Victoria, Liberton and Astley Ainslie hospitals.  We also see patients who are completely housebound in their homes and in Nursing Homes.

We can be contacted by telephone via an answer machine – Monday-Friday office hours: This is for non-urgent enquiries as all urgent issues should be dealt with via your GP. Please ensure you leave us a telephone contact number. We work out of the office a lot of the time and therefore cannot deal with emergency calls. We will try and return your call within two working days.    If you have an appointment or general enquiry, you could contact the Parkinson’s secretary, Suzanne Vinall, on 0131 537 5256.

Parkinson's Nurse Specialists

Royal Victoria Hospital
Edinburgh   Tel: 0131 537 5259

Alison.stewart@luht.scot.nhs.uk

Allison.darbyshire@luht.scot.nhs.uk

Tina.daniels@luht.scot.nhs.uk