Last December, YOU ALL did something incredibly special…
Thanks to your generous donations during Ataxia UK’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, we are delighted to officially announce the opening of the UK’s first Ataxia Specialist Centre for children!
Based at the Sheffield Ataxia Centre, the paediatric centre for children will aim to provide the best possible outpatient care to children and their families, including treatment and a full range of diagnostic facilities including advanced neuro-imaging and genetic testing of ataxias.
Dr. Santosh Mordekar, Paediatric Neurologist with an expertise in ataxia will run the Centre with the support of Jackie Cutts, Paediatric Neurology CNS / Complex Transition Nurse and their team of clinicians and nurses. We hope to open a second paediatric centre in London next year. Dr Santosh says:
I’ve been seeing children with various movement disorders including ataxia for 13 years and am delighted that our Centre has now been accredited as the first Children’s Ataxia Centre in the UK. I have been working closely with Professor Hadjivassiliou and Dr. Shanmugarajah managing combined clinics for 17-18 year olds to ensure smooth transition to adult care.
Quite simply, this incredible achievement wouldn’t have been possible without your commitment to help make a vital difference in treatment for hundreds of children currently living with ataxia and newly diagnosed with an ataxia.
For all the young people who will benefit from ataxia paediatric centres, thank you!
If you are interested in attending the Sheffield Children’s Ataxia Centre, a referral can be made by your GP, paediatrician or paediatric neurologist to see Dr Mordekar at Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Ryegate Children’s Centre, Tapton Crescent Road, Sheffield S10 5DD.
Read the case studies from the 2018 Big Give Challenge here.
