Rehab for all

The largest study of its kind looks at the surgical management of TBI, highlighting regional inequalities in major causes and treatment of injuries

A stroke charity in Essex has been forced to close its doors after a copper piping theft caused a ‘huge’ gas leak. The thieves detached a gas pipe while stripping the material from the Tendring Specialist Stroke Services building in Holland-on-Sea. The charity provides rehabilitation and therapy to stroke survivors who experience isolation due to [...]

Three quarters of people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) are concerned at accessing frontline healthcare due to the lack of specialist knowledge from health professionals about their condition, a new report has revealed. 

At a Hilton Hotel in Maidstone on Valentine's Day last year, protestors interrupted a group of GPs as they voted unanimously to stop commissioning acute stroke services in four hospital across Kent and Medway, where there are around 3,000 cases of stroke treated every year.

Fifty-seven per cent of people surveyed, who had all sustained their injuries in the last two years, say their access to specialist treatment has been negatively impacted from lockdown measures.

Among those living with the long-term effects of brain injury, two thirds reported that their mental health has deteriorated due to government measures to control the spread of Covid-19, and the same number fear for their futures.

These findings highlight the importance of ensuring those affected by brain injury are provided with appropriate physical, psychological and social rehabilitation, says Headway.

Peter McCabe, the charity’s chief executive of Headway, says the findings are ‘deeply concerning’.

It warns that failing to provide these services can have devastating consequences for people’s lives, and bring greater costs for the NHS and social care systems. Community rehabilitation provides vital support for patients outside hospital to allow them to continue their recovery from emergencies such as stroke and heart failure, or to enable them to manage conditions such as lung disease and arthritis. But a new report – published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and Sue Ryde – warns of “patchy provision” or people with MS, stroke and other conditions. Community rehabilitation provides vital support for patients outside hospital to allow them to continue their recovery from emergencies such as stroke and heart failure, or to enable them to manage conditions such as lung disease and arthritis. But a new report – published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and Sue Ryde – warns of “patchy provision” or people with MS, stroke and other conditions.

People living with a brain injury or neurological condition should have more access to employment than ever before. But experts in the field paint a very different picture; in which individuals are struggling to find employment, withdrawing from work all together and experiencing discrimination. In July 2019, the Neurological Alliance published the most comprehensive survey undertaken of people living with neurological conditions. It found that one in three respondents have been discriminated against as a result of their condition, and almost a third (29 per cent) have had their contract of employment terminated.

At a Parliamentary debate held on Tuesday 2 July, MPs urged the government to issue a national review into neuro-rehab resources throughout the UK.  The debate was led by Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury. According to the National Clinical Audit carried out by the group, 94 per cent of people who received neuro-rehab were able to live independent lives, yet only 40 per cent of those assessed at a major trauma unit as needing neuro-rehab had access to it, with an estimated shortage of 330 beds across England and Wales.