Having opened a new purpose-built neurological care centre at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team at Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre Lancashire were able to celebrate its first anniversary in rather less trying circumstances.
The centre first opened its doors on April 20 last year, only weeks after national lockdown was imposed, to help bring much-needed specialist neurological care provision and relieve pressure on the NHS frontline.
While the centre – which had been in the planning for 15 years and was subject to an 18-month construction and development project – had initially anticipated welcoming patients later in the year, its speedily-delivered opening meant it was able to take neuro patients out of hospitals to begin their specialist rehabilitation at the earliest opportunity.
“We had daily anxiety about whether this would happen and had to completely redesign our project plan. Moving was scaled back from seven days into two, and recruitment was speeded up and interviews took place by video,” the team previously told NR Times.
“I think if we’d have stopped and thought about what we were doing, and really considered the scale of the task, we’d have fallen over. But we did it and it was the most amazing team effort, absolutely everyone in our team played their role in getting us in and geared up to take clients.”
And now, the purpose-built centre – which has 40 bedrooms and four apartments and offers level 2 post-acute rehab support alongside palliative and end-of-life care – has more reason than most to celebrate its first anniversary, having successfully overcome the many challenges along the way.
During the past year, while many specialist care centres have been unable to take in new clients, Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre has already discharged several back to their homes, having completed their rehabilitation.
One such person is Laura Bacon, a 35-year-old admitted to the centre’s specialist intensive rehabilitation programme following surgery on an AVM in her brain.
“When I came in I was incredibly nervous, emotional and scared. This was the first time I had been unable to walk and in a wheelchair, which was incredibly daunting,” she recalls.
“The year previous it had been discovered I had an AVM in my left temporal lobe. After a craniotomy to remove it I was still left with epilepsy. I have both epileptic and non-epileptic attacks which I never could understand, but during my stay at Sue Ryder many things were explained in ways I had never been given before.
‘My therapy team – ‘Wow’ is the only way to describe them. Ellie, Louise, Jenny and Trudy worked so incredibly hard to keep me going. I am a very emotional person and they really truly are an incredible team and I owe them so much. They are a blessing to have there.
‘After the 12 weeks I left a new person. I left knowing who I was as a person. I left positive, strong and remarkably changed, able to do things I couldn’t do when I arrived. The whole place made a huge difference to me.”
Natalie Hilton, head of clinical services at Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre Lancashire, says: “Sue Ryder has played a key role in the delivery of specialist care for people living with life-changing neurological conditions in Lancashire for over the last 30 years.
“The opening of this facility was a positive step forward, offering more opportunities for current and future clients, as well as cementing our commitment to provide expert support.
“Since we opened the doors to our new specialist centre, our focus has been on rehabilitation to enable people living with neurological conditions to remain in the community and claim their independence. Going forward, we are really excited about how our care will develop and expand as we work to modernise neurological care across the county.
“This past year has been very difficult for many people and it felt important that we marked our first anniversary as best we could, given current restrictions. The resilience and fortitude of our clients and staff has been nothing short of amazing.”
