A new Rehabilitation Prescription (RP2019), the tool that documents the rehabilitation needs of the individual with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), is now available, with versions available for adults and children.
Commenting on RP2019, Professor Chris Moran, National Clinical Director for Trauma to NHS England, and Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery at Nottingham University Hospital said:
Neurorehabilitation is a key component of the major trauma network; an essential part of good trauma care and good patient outcomes. Rehabilitation needs should be assessed shortly after a patient is admitted to the major trauma centre, delivered during the inpatient phase, and continued in a trauma unit or in the local community. This new RP details the neurorehabilitation needs of both children and adults, and in order to maintain the continuity of rehabilitation, a copy should be given to both the patient and/or family as well as their GP.
Professor Michael Barnes, ABI Alliance Chair said: “The Acquired Brain Injury Alliance is a collaborative venture between charities, professional groups and industry coalitions working in the field of ABI. We are supporting the availability of this revised version of the RP to emphasise its key role in ensuring patients access neurorehabilitation services following discharge. However, the RP has no value if the individual with an ABI and their GP 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 report produced in September 2018 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury (APPG on ABI) entitled ‘Acquired Brain Injury and Neurorehabilitation – Time for Change’ outlined the critical role of neurorehabilitation in the ABI care pathway and the need for RPs for all brain injury survivors following discharge from acute care1.
RP2019 stipulates that a rehabilitation assessment should take place within 48-72 hours of the patient’s admission and has to be completed for all major trauma patients who need rehabilitation at discharge2. The RP must contain core items and be developed with the involvement of the individual and/or their family/carers, and administered by a specialist health care professional in rehabilitation.
RP2019 should be completed by health care professionals after a multidisciplinary team assessment and signed off by senior staff members, at a minimum a consultant or specialist trainee in rehabilitation medicine, Band-7 specialist rehabilitation clinician or major trauma coordinator. It can be provided as a single document for both the patient and professionals, or as two separate documents to be given at the point of discharge.
The ABI Alliance supports the use of the RP for 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.
References
1. Acquired Brain Injury and Neurorehabilitation – Time for Change. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury Report, September 2018. https://www.ukabif.org.uk/campaigns/appg-report/ (accessed January 2019).
- Major Trauma Rehabilitation Prescription 2019 TARN data entry guidance document October 2018. http://www.c4ts.qmul.ac.uk/downloads/mt-rehabilitation-prescription-2019-guidance.pdf (accessed January 2019).
