1 May 2018
ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY ALLIANCE
LAUNCHES REHABILITATION PRESCRIPTION CAMPAIGN
The Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Alliance, a collaborative venture between charities, professional groups and industry coalitions working in the field of ABI, is launching its Rehabilitation Prescription (RP) Campaign today.
Speaking at the launch event in London, Professor Michael Barnes, ABI Alliance Chair said: “The Rehabilitation Prescription is a valuable tool that documents the rehabilitation needs of the individual with an ABI. It has no value if the individual with an ABI and their General Practitioner don’t receive a copy. And if the individual and the GP don’t know what rehabilitation is required then no access to services can be planned or implemented”.
The ABI Alliance believes that the RP should be given to every individual, both children, young people and adults with an ABI, on discharge from hospital, with a copy sent to their GP. This will then provide a useful resource for the GP to work with the individual and facilitate access to rehabilitation services in the community, maximising the individual’s health outcomes.
The results of the National Clinical Audit October 2016 ‘Specialist Rehabilitation for Patients with Complex Needs Following Major Injury (NCASRI)’ were discussed at the launch. The NCASRI report showed that although all 22 Major Trauma Centres reported that they routinely complete a RP, in one-third of the centres the RP was either sometimes or always given to the patient, but in the remaining two-thirds it was a clinically-held tool.
A Freedom of Information Request was sent last year to all Clinical Commissioning Groups by the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) asking if they logged RPs. The feedback was poor, only four CCGs were positive and recognition of the RP was inexcusably low.
The RP Campaign has been briefed, and endorsed, by a large number of professional organisations including the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, Royal College of Physicians, Primary Care Neurology Society, British Association of Neuroscience Nurses, United Kingdom Alliance for Neurorehabilitation Nurses, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers and the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum.
ENDS
Notes to editor
ABI Alliance
The ABI Alliance was established in 2016, and is a collaborative venture between charities, professional groups and industry coalitions working in the field of ABI. The purpose of the Alliance is to use collective influence and work together to improve the lives of those affected by ABI.
abialliance.org
For information on the Rehabilitation Prescription, Acquired Brain injury and the ABI Alliance please see background information for the media: abialliance.org/media
For further information, please contact:
Chloe Hayward: E: M: 07903 887655
Louise Blakeborough: E:[email protected] M:07831 444789