Evelina London Children’s Hospital has received Centre of Excellence status for the care it offers people with muscle and nerve conditions.
The Waterloo hospital was one of 24 centres to be given the award by the leading charity Muscular Dystrophy UK.
Neuromuscular conditions like muscular dystrophy, myopathies and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease cause symptoms including loss of sensation, pain, muscle weakness and fatigue.
Thirteen-year-old Finlay O’Donoghue has been treated for muscular dystrophy at Evelina since the age of four, meeting with cardiologists, endocrinologists and physiotherapists eight times a year.
His grandmother Jen Gordon said: “When you first hear that your child has a condition you’ve never heard of before it’s daunting.
“Very quickly, within that first year, all of the different departments that Finley was under gave me every bit of information and didn’t mind me asking twice, three times, until I got it.”
She added: “They make me feel comfortable, and make Finley feel he is special to that person at that time.”
According to the charity there are more than 60 rare progressive muscle-weakening and wasting conditions affecting 110,000 children and adults in the UK.
Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: “We would like to congratulate Evelina London Children’s Hospital which has been recognised with a Centre of Excellence award after a robust and rigorous assessment of their service by leading neuromuscular experts and members of the muscle wasting and weakening community.
“Despite continuing pressures and challenges within the NHS, these centres strive every day to ensure they promote best practice and provide an exemplary service.”