A FIVE-year campaign to bring specialist help to Parkinson's Disease sufferers in the Malvern Hills district is hanging on talks about to be held by health officials.

Plans for a specialist nurse in South Worcestershire have been touted since 1997 by the Parkinson's Disease Society.

After years of negotiation with health authority representatives, 14 nurses began to study the disease in late 2001 to specialise in helping sufferers.

Parkinson's disease progressively attacks the nervous system, resulting in tremors, muscular rigidity and emaciation. Although it predominantly affects the elderly, it has been known to affect those as young as teenagers.

In April of this year, following a shake-up of Worcestershire health service, Primary Care Trusts in Wyre Forest, Redditch and Bromsgrove all announced they intended to continue with the specialist services.

However, South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust was left with debts of £3.2 million and put all specialist nurse services under review.

The Parkinson's Disease Society, with backing from the pharmaceutical industry and Rank Foundation, has raised enough money to cover the initial nurse appointments and 'pump priming' costs for the first year of the operation.

But Arthur Burgess, honorary secretary of the Worcester and District Branch of the society, said before the nurses could be appointed a letter of intent was needed from the Primary Care Trust, to say that it would continue the scheme once the current money ran out.

"Herefordshire has had a nurse for several years," he said. "They have a more pointed knowledge than GPs and those areas served are all very pleased. We would like to mirror the success of Herefordshire on this side of the hills."

South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust's management committee is due to review their position on specialist services at their meeting in two weeks' time.

A spokesman said: "A lot of work is going on with Parkinson's disease with practice nurses who have been trained particularly in the Upton area.

"As far as this money is concerned it's the recurring costs, the extra money that is needed to keep the service going is the reason why it has not been used."