Disabilities Trust: New partnership to boost support for people with brain injury

The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust (NLAG) are pleased to announce an exciting and innovative partnership which will help address the current shortage in specialist provision for people with acquired brain injury in North Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas. Due to commence in August 2007, the partnership will add a new dimension to BIRT’s expertise in the brain injury rehabilitation field, offering high quality care within an NHS setting, but operating independently of the NHS.

The joint venture will provide a 14-bedded neuro-rehabilitation unit to be based within Goole & District Hospital. The unit will allow a combination of beds to meet the needs of people who require post-acute rehabilitation, where service users will be admitted directly from neurosurgical or acute medical/surgical services, and for community integration rehabilitation, following BIRT’s well-established neuro-rehabilitation model.

Primary Care Trusts, Social Services Departments and other agencies will commission services from the partnership, which will be staffed by a multi-disciplinary team. This team will include physiotherapists, occupational therapists, a speech and language therapist, a neuropsychologist and a number of rehabilitation support workers, all of whom will work alongside the existing Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Hospitals Trust Community Rehabilitation Medicine Service to provide a continuous link for each individual through their pathway of care from in-patient through to re-integration into the community. This will provide an opportunity for new healthcare jobs in the area and is extremely positive for the locality.

The appropriately designed and fully-equipped unit offers easy access to a range of NHS services and also has space for therapy and recreational purposes and for practising daily living skills.
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BIRT, and its parent charity The Disabilities Trust, will be able to draw on its existing representation in the North and North East to provide a continuum of care for people with brain injury or physical disabilities in residential settings or in its community supported houses or home support packages.

Mike McPeake, Services Manager for BIRT, says “this is an exciting development which could act as a forerunner for similar partnerships with other NHS Trusts in future. The project will enable people who need intensive one-to-one support to access our proven brain injury rehabilitation model at a much earlier stage and will have the added benefit of being located much closer to people’s homes in North Lincolnshire.”

Karen Griffiths, Divisional Manager, Clinical Sciences from NLAG added: “This is a long awaited development for the locality, as currently patients requiring neuro-rehabilitation programmes on discharge from hospital are required to access services out of the area – which brings difficulties for both patients, carers and their families. Staff welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with BIRT and are extremely excited to be involved in this development.”


Notes to Editors

1. The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) offers a range of services designed to meet the needs of people at different stages of rehabilitation - from assessment to comprehensive rehabilitation, long-term housing and care, and community-based support. Last year, BIRT supported some 550 people with acquired brain injury though ten specialist residential units (including Leeds and York) and several community-based housing schemes across the country. For further information, please visit www.birt.co.uk.

The model to be adopted at the Goole project will operate on similar lines to the service at York House in York, which is an independent hospital offering a neurobehavioural rehabilitation service for up to 28 people with an acquired brain injury. (www.york-house.org)

2. BIRT is a division of the national charity, The Disabilities Trust, which provides expert care and support services to people with profound physical impairments, autism and learning disabilities, as well as brain injury. These services include a residential unit for people with profound physical disabilities at Victoria Docks in Hull. For further information on the work of The Disabilities Trust, please visit www.disabilities-trust.org.uk.

3. Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust was established as a combined hospital and community Trust on 1 April 2001. It was formed by the merger of North East Lincolnshire NHS Trust and Scunthorpe and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust and operates all NHS hospitals in Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole. Its name reflects the wider geographical area in which the Trust is a major provider of health care. For more information, visit www.nlg.nhs.uk.