The Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Alliance, a collaborative venture between charities, professional groups and industry coalitions working in the field of ABI, launched its Rehabilitation Prescription (RP) Campaign on 1st May.
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.
