Local Branch Support
For information about anything our local Branch support, contacts and services please email us at info@guildfordparkinsons.org.uk
Local NHS Parkinson’s Nurse Specialist
There are local NHS nurse specialists that you can contact. Please call the Community Co-ordination Centre (CCC) on 01483 362020.
The specialist nurses are:
Amanda Dodson
Dawn Rawson
Rose McKinley*
*If your GP’s practice is in North Surrey tel: 01483 908183
If your GP’s practice is in E. Hants tel: 01483 908088
Email: vcl.parkinsonnurses@nhs.net
Parkinson’s UK Advisers
Your Parkinson’s UK Advisers for our area are Jackie Wingrave and Nicky Lawrence-Gravestock.
They can provide information, support, and advice to people with Parkinson’s and their families, friends and carers.
Call the Parkinson’s UK freephone number – 0808 800 0303 (Monday-Friday 9.00 am-7.00 pm, Saturday 10.00 am – 1.00 pm) or email hello@parkinsons.org.uk and ask to be referred to them.
The help-line deals with a wide range of queries and will refer callers to specialist or local advisers as appropriate. The helpline advisers can provide information and support in an emergency.
Parkinson’s National Grant Fund
There is a Grant Fund available to help pay for electrical items, home adaptations, respite care and specialist equipment, as well as socialising, meeting new people or improving fitness and wellbeing.
Who can apply?
People living with Parkinson’s and unpaid carers. We do not count Carers Allowance as getting paid. Please call the number below for grant criteria. Applications are treated in the strictest confidence.
How to apply
Call 020 7963 9386, email: grants@parkinsons.org.uk or www.parkinsons.org.uk/takecontrolgrant
Community Falls Responder Service (non injurious falls)
NHS Guildford and Waverley Health and Care Alliance is working in partnership with Mole Valley Life to provide Guildford and Waverley residents with a non-injurious falls responsive service.
If you have a fall at home and you have no pain or injury, a qualified Community Falls Responder will attend within 45 minutes (60 minutes in rural areas), to help you up using specialist lifting equipment and making you safe and comfortable.
This service is available 7 days a week 6.00 am – 9.00 pm. Call 0300 369 0590.
You must be registered with one of the listed GP practices. For the list please click here.
New Hospital at Home service launched in Surrey
A home-based acute hospital service has been launched at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, following a successful pilot. The Hospital at Home ward supports patients living with frailty, who would otherwise be in hospital, to receive the acute care and treatment they need in their own home.
The Hospital at Home service brings acute care into the patient’s home, including care home. It addressed the unique needs of patients living with frailty by providing personalised care that focuses on maintaining independence, improving quality of life and preventing unnecessary health deterioration. For more details about this new service visit their website.
Surrey County Council – Adult Social Care Online
A suite of online checklists and self-assessments to provide residents with alternative ways to access support and information. Available 24/7 here.
‘My support needs and financial assessment’
Surrey County Council’s Adult Social Care service has launched a new online tool so residents can self-assess whether they are eligible for social care support. Details here.
Citizens Advice Bureau
The Citizens Advice Bureau offers a wide range of support, including support with completing applications for carers allowances and benefits, as well as providing advice and information on welfare rights, consumer issues, employment and housing rights, money and debt. If you live in the Guildford Borough you can contact the Guildford and Ash Branch via telephone 0808 278 7888 or email advice@ca-ga.org.uk. For the website click here
Directory of Volunteer car schemes
For a directory of Volunteer car schemes in the Guildford and Waverley boroughs please click here.
Audiobooks for those with Parkinson’s and their carers
The charity Listening Books has a huge library of audiobooks and is open to anyone (adult and child) who lives in the UK and has an illness, disability or mental health condition that impacts on reading or holding a book. Listen on your PC or via an app on a phone or tablet.
The benefits of audiobooks for people with Parkinson’s
- You can concentrate on the story without the need to read the text or hold a printed book
- Enjoy the escapism of a good book and maintain a love of reading
- Retain a sense of independence with regards to reading and accessing books
- For carers, audiobooks are a great activity to enjoy together, or to find your own moment of calm
- Learn to love literature and books by opening up a whole new world of experience and learning.
Why Listening Books?
- Over 10,000 audiobooks available
- No long wait times
- Listening Books is a charity and has a heavily subsidised membership fee of £20 per year – with free memberships available to those that need them
- Podcasts, author interviews, competitions and more included in membership
- Access to thousands of newspapers and magazines that you can see and listen to at no extra fee
- Online (Facebook) book group
View the catalogue of books on the website at www.listening-books.org.uk/library