The politician
Now that Anita is home the importance of getting the right amount of physiotherapy for her (amongst other things) is crucial.
We are still awaiting the assessment from Rayner’s Hedge on her therapy needs before the local authority can come up with a treatment plan. Judging by what I have seen of the resources for neurological physiotherapy in Milton Keynes I have severe doubts that Anita will be able to continue her current level of improvements. That frustration has already led me to write a letter to the local MP. In it I have stated our aims:-
- For Anita to achieve maximum independence.
- To make life easier for people with brain injury in the future.
The government has spoken of getting brain injured people back to work, promoting independence and is trying to change the culture of brain injury. The definition of rehabilitation is…
Rehabilitation has been described as a process of active change by which a person who has become disabled acquires the knowledge and skills needed for optimum physical, psychological and social function. The aims of rehabilitation services are to help people to maintain their existing roles in the family, at work and in the community, to improve people’s physical functioning and to prevent or minimise loss of function in the future.
From the experience of Anita’s rehabilitation we have come to realise that this definition has not been fully demonstrated in practice. Even worse, that rehabilitation will be further limited by the lack of neurological physiotherapy services in MK. I have included more extracts from the letter in the extended entry.
Extracts from letter to the politician
Anita has just returned home from Rayners Hedge rehabilitation unit, we where disappointed to find that given the size of the population in MK we still had to travel to Aylesbury for 10 months. However the 10 months of 1 hour daily physiotherapy she received has improved her to the point that she can almost make her own transfer’s. It is not unconceivable that if she continues at this rate she will gain a certain amount of independence. As a forty year old woman reducing the amount of social care she needs will be a considerable long term saving to the tax payer. Particularly if she can also return to her employment at the council. I am writing to you at this early stage because I fear that what therapy she will be offered will not even come close to matching what she has been getting previously. I feel the need to demonstrate to you the potential personal tragedy that lack of service can have on peoples lives.
MK has only two neurological physiotherapists working 3 days a week, given it’s size and the increasing incidence of brain injury it’s not enough. We feel this will impact on how much she will get and there is no way she will be able to progress at the same rate she has done in hospital. The argument is often made that it’s not just about physiotherapy but that her road to independence lies in adapting to her home environment and self-exercise. I understand those arguments, those things are easily done but with conditions like proprioception I have seen the direct results that she has achieved with constant movement and regular physiotherapy. We met with Anita’s neurosurgeon yesterday and he agreed that Anita is still at the stage where improvements will be made. We are desperate to get 5 days physiotherapy 1 hour a day, but the only way to achieve this is to pay a private physiotherapist at a rate of £50 per hour. It’s likely we will have to shoulder the cost of adaptations to our home which will soon include the large expense of converting our garage. I am frankly disgusted that the NHS are prepared to carry out these operations but won’t meet their obligations in the aftermath.
We are currently looking very hard ourselves and with the local NHS representative from the Physical Disability Resource Team to see if there are possible solutions. The difficulty of brain injury for the person and the relatives is enormous; it is beyond the scope of this letter to talk about most the obstacles that get in the way. The experience I have gained so far shows me that there is a lot that can be done to help people, people who are much more vulnerable than us, these are some of the most vulnerable members of our society. You can be assured that the points I am making to you in this letter will be made at every opportunity to others who could be of assistance or should be made aware of the circumstances. If there is any way that you can help us we would be grateful if you could contact us at the earliest opportunity.