Care & services
A Royal Air Force veteran who sustained a significant brain injury and overcame “testing hurdles” on the road to recovery is now making strong progress with the unwavering support of his son. Herbert Martin, an 85-year-old from Littleport, near Ely, sustained a brain injury following a fall in October 2020 and went on to make a remarkable recovery – highlighting the rapid progression specialist rehab therapy can offer. A former RAF serviceman of 12 years, which included deployments to Cyprus, Australia, Pakistan and Singapore, Herbert was admitted to Askham Rehab on New Year’s Eve 2020 after suffering a subarachnoid haemorrhage that caused a bleed between his brain and skull. The severity of the injury left Herbert extremely fatigued and resulted in muscle weakness that restricted his mobility. His condition upon arrival at Askham was so critical it was initially feared he wouldn’t recover enough to return home and live independently.
A charity which supports seriously injured people from the earliest stages of their recovery is rolling out its services in new regions following its national launch last month.
Day One Trauma Support offers financial, emotional and legal support to patients and their families, and was originally based at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its support will now also be offered in the Major Trauma Centre at Aintree University Hospital, with rollout into more of the country’s 27 Major Trauma Centres also planned. The charity is launching a fundraising drive during July to help raise vital funds for the expansion of its services, with over 100 people committing to each cover 75 miles to raise money - the distance marking the journey between Leeds and Aintree.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for people living with dementia, as well as for those who support them. Tracey Carter, senior quality manager (dementia care) at Exemplar Health Care, shares how colleagues across the company have found innovative ways to support people living with dementia to stay safe and well, and uphold the principles of person-centred care
It’s vital that health and social care workers, other professionals and family carers continue to take a person-centred approach to care during the pandemic, to support people with dementia to maintain, and enhance, their health and wellbeing. Putting people first There are currently around 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, each with their own unique personalities and life stories. Everyone will experience the pandemic and its effects differently, which is why it’s important to maintain a person-centred approach.
A specialist children’s care provider is rebranding and expanding its service offering.
Focused Healthcare has become Children’s Complex Care Limited, which will build further on its work in supporting children and young people aged up to 25 with complex care needs in Greater London and the surrounding counties. Its nurse-led, personalised care at home service enables young people to live with their families in their own communities, and supports them in doing so. The rebrand also creates the opportunity to expand service offering, with the business speaking of its aspirations to create a specialist children’s autism offering and the development of a unique child to adult services transition pathway in the future.
A specialist rehabilitation centre is extending its reach to accommodate Long COVID patients, as cases continue to rise and brain injury-like symptoms become more closely associated with the condition.
Uplands Rehabilitation Centre is supporting growing numbers of people with Long COVID, using its ten years of neurological rehabilitation experience to devise bespoke plans for people battling its effects. Recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested that 1.1 million people in the UK were affected by the condition in the four weeks from February 6, with about one in five people showing symptoms of Long COVID five weeks after an initial infection, and one in seven after 12 weeks.
A new £1m state-of-the-art rehabilitation unit in North East England has opened to help boost the chances of recovery for stroke patients.
The Jubilee Acute Stroke Rehabilitation Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead has been specifically designed for the needs of stroke patients, and will provide active rehabilitation to support such people. Patients will be encouraged to engage in activities and exercises designed to promote recovery and independence, including daily self-care tasks, walking, making drinks and breakfast, social activities, and communication and cognitive tasks – all of which are known to enhance the odds of recovery after stroke.
Work has begun to bring a landmark neurological research and treatment centre to reality.
The UCL Neuroscience centre of excellence will be home to three bodies: the world-leading UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology; the headquarters of the UK Dementia Research Institute, the single biggest investment the UK has ever made in dementia; and the UCLH National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), which is the UK's largest dedicated neurological and neurosurgical hospital. Clinical work and research will take place together within the new facility, at 256 Grays Inn Road in London, enabling an active dialogue between people with neurological disorders, their doctors, and researchers.
Exemplar Health Care, a specialist nursing care provider for adults living with complex needs, has officially opened its £2.9 million state-of-the-art complex needs care home in Hull.
Marmaduke is Exemplar Health Care’s second home in East Yorkshire. The home will provide person-centred care and
rehabilitation for younger adults who have a neuro-disability, acquired brain injury or complex mental health needs, including those who display behaviours of concern. A place to call home Marmaduke has the facilities to provide specialist nursing care for people living with a neuro-disability or neurodegenerative disorder. 
A hospital unit has received the official seal of approval after its recent expansion.
Carol Bryant, Chair of Langstone County Council, has been a long-time supporter of St Peter’s specialist mental health hospital and after a negative Covid test was welcomed to the site to see first-hand the new facilities on offer. The hospital, which is owned and run by specialist healthcare provider Ludlow Street Healthcare, is a person-centred assessment, treatment and care centre for men and women with degenerative neuropsychiatric conditions and Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI). The hospital has increased its capacity by 12 beds to 51 across single-gender units, which provide specialist treatment and nursing care that focuses on delivering positive outcomes for patients and their families.
A man who was left with severe mobility issues after a spinal injury is making strong progress through specialist rehabilitation.
Justin Urquhart sustained degeneration injuries to his neck and lower spine that subsequently developed into an infection in 2020. In addition to cervical spinal stenosis, an area in the neck where the space around the spinal cord becomes narrowed and puts pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine, Justin also experienced discitis in the two lowest vertebrae of his lumbar spine (L4 and L5). The inflammation between the intervertebral discs led to the bacterial infection that caused 59-year-old Justin’s loss of mobility.
