Adults throughout Southampton will benefit from improved epilepsy services with the appointment of the city’s first Sapphire nurse.
Epilepsy Action, in conjunction with Southampton City Primary Care Trust, has appointed Kim Morley as epilepsy specialist nurse. She will be working in partnership with the epilepsy specialist neurologists at Southampton General Hospital and the Community Neurological Rehabilitation Team based at the Western Community Hospital. She will be providing a community service for adults, 16 years and above. This will include specialist care for teenagers in the transition from paediatric to adult services.
Kim has set up a number of outreach epilepsy clinics sessions throughout the city including: the Western Community Hospital, The Quay to Health, at the Quays in Harbour Parade, Thorn Hill Surgery in Pepys Avenue, and Bitterne Park Medical Centre.
She said:”It is great to be able to offer outreach services and make epilepsy care and information accessible to as many people as possible. I will be offering advice on a whole range of epilepsy-related topics from first seizures, to drug side effects and pre-conception counselling, and I will also be offering specialist support and information to GPs, practice nurses and voluntary groups.”
Kim is a trained nurse, midwife and independent non medical prescriber and joins from Winchester and Eastleigh Health Care Trust where she set up a charity, ‘Women with Epilepsy’, to fund a specialist midwifery epilepsy service. She has also recently completed a Professional Diploma in Epilepsy.
To optimise support, Kim will be developing integrated care pathways to help people with epilepsy experience a positive impact on their health.
Kim said: “This really is an exciting project for Southampton and a huge step forward in epilepsy care. I am really looking forward to getting to know my new patients.”