Parkinson Expertise Centre

From January 2016 onwards, all patients with Parkinson’s disease or atypical parkinsonisms who were previously treated in the Martini Hospital and the UMCG are treated in the new Parkinson Expertise Centre: Point for Parkinson. The centre is housed in a wing of the Maartenshof, a nursing home in Groningen. Before patients can be treated in the Point for Parkinson, the diagnosis needs to be certain. Diagnostics will take place in the UMCG or Martini Hospital, as will any further examinations.

The Point for Parkinson (PvP) is a new care concept that focuses on centralised management for the treatment and care of patients with Parkinson’s disease or parkinsonism. This is important because around 20 types of healthcare providers are involved in the care pathway. The guiding maxim is: ‘Simple and close by if possible, and difficult and far away if necessary.’ This way, basic services can be handled by primary care, while complex care is done in expertise centres, known as Points for Parkinson.

An important role in the PvP is played by the ambulatory team. This team provides advice remotely to all healthcare providers involved in the care pathway. The core ambulatory team consists of nurse practitioners who specialise in Parkinson’s disease, a neurologist, a pharmacist and a geriatric care specialist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease.

In the next few years, more of these Parkinson’s centres will be opened in the north of the Netherlands, to build a high-quality care network for Parkinson’s disease healthcare providers. The Points for Parkinson will collaborate closely with all healthcare providers who are members of the ParkinsonNet.

Click here to view the Point for Parkinson website.