Patients’ rehab hope

Feb 28 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

A NORTH East academic has launched a unique rehabilitation service to help end a postcode lottery of care for patients who have suffered brain injuries.

Professor Mike Barnes, of Newcastle University, is putting 20 years of expertise in the field to bridge a gap for sufferers.

The former NHS consultant neurologist has helped patients with conditions such as brain and spinal injuries and strokes.

But Prof Barnes, president of the World Federation of Neurological Rehabilitation, has identified a postcode lottery for patients requiring continuing rehabilitation once they leave hospital.

Despite the North East being better than most parts of the country, he said the region still only has one dedicated NHS brain injury team based in Morpeth, Northumberland.

“There is nothing else in the whole area. There is a patchy, postcode lottery of provision across the country,” he said.

“It is really a funding issue. I am sure there are other demands on their budgets and primary care trusts have to make funding decisions.

“Community physiotherapists or speech therapists are few and far between and have huge workloads and they don’t work as part of a coherent team, which we can offer.”

Prof Barnes is bringing all the disciplines such as medicine, physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and psychology into one team which will travel to the patient, wherever they are.

The team will treat neurological patients who may have sustained their injuries from a car crash or criminal attack, or suffered a brain haemorrhage, who may be funded by their compensation or primary care trusts on the NHS.

Prof Barnes said: “Once patients are discharged from hospital, there is little co-ordinated support for them.

“Rehabilitation maximises their improvement and quality of life.

“By providing the whole package for them to continue means they can get better quicker.”

He hopes the service, called Hunters Moor Ltd after the former Newcastle rehabilitation centre, will take the pressure off hospitals and offer local primary care trusts the chance to commission services they may be unable to provide for NHS patients themselves.

“I see this working hand in hand with the NHS where hospitals often have to keep patients in weeks or months longer as there is nowhere to put them into. This will enable them to discharge patients more quickly when they are ready. Primary care trusts could also buy these services for NHS patients.”

A spokeswoman for the North East specialised commissioning team said: “Specialist services for people with brain injuries are commissioned by a team that works across all primary care trusts in the North East.

“These services are currently commissioned from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust.

“Prof Barnes has already been in contact with the specialised commissioning team about his new venture and arrangements are being made to meet with him, as would be the case for any new service provider who makes an approach to them.”