Wolfson Neurorehabilitation Centre

The Wolfson Neurorehabilitation Centre (WNRC), also better known simply as The Wolfson, is a specialist neurorehabilitation centre based in Wimbledon, south west London. The WNRC is part of St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust.

Contents

History

The WNRC was opened in 1967 by Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent. Construction was made possible by a grant of £250,000 from the Wolfson Foundation. Wylie McKissock,[1] Consultant Neurological Surgeon to St. George's Hospital from 1944, transformed Atkinson Morley Hospital from a convalescent hospital into a neurological services unit which included neurosurgery, neurology, psychiatry and specialist support services.[2]

The WNRC was opened to provide rehabilitation services for Atkinson Morley's Hospital and remained in Wimbledon after the transfer of acute neuroscience services from Atkinson Morley's to St. George's Hospital in Tooting. In 2011 St.George's Healthcare Trust took over the St.John's Therapy Centre[3] in Battersea and the Queen Mary's Hospital (QMR) in Roehampton, including the 14 bed neurorehabilitation service, and the WNRC and QMR will function as a single service.

As well as the neurorehabilitation service, the WNRC is the location of the south west London branch of Headway, the brain injury association.[4]

Operations

The WNRC provides individual and group rehabilitation programmes for patients.[5][6] The aim is to help patients make the transition from requiring assistance with activities of daily living to becoming sufficiently independent for discharge. Patients receive a weekly timetable that shows their daily scheduled activities.

There are 36 inpatient beds, of which 21 are for tertiary patients, 11 are for stroke patients [7] transferring from the highly rated stroke unit [8] at St. George's Hospital, and 4 are for patients attending the pain management programme.

Day services include a day patient programme, Wolfson Cognitive Assessment Programme (WCAP), Vocational Rehabilitation Programme, Cognitive Group and Pain Management Programme.

Facilities include therapy rooms, consulting rooms and offices, kitchen, dining room, lounge, resource room, 36 beds, conference room, various therapy rooms, quiet lounge, and a fully equipped independence rehabilitation flat.

In the first few weeks after admission, patients are assessed with regard to their goals and the support required to achieve those goals. Each patient has an allocated "Chair" (keyworker) who oversees their progress through the goal-oriented rehabilitation programme.[9] Within the first two weeks patients should attend a Goal Planning Meeting, where the MDT and the patient, and when appropriate the family, work together to set goals to be attained by the end of their stay in the WNRC. These long-term goals are then broken down into smaller short-term goals.[10] Review meetings are held every 2–3 weeks to review progress.[11]

Standards of care

The WNRC works within the South Thames Brain Injury Standards for Post Acute Brain Injury Rehabilitation[12]

Multidisciplinary team

MDT members at the WNRC include:

Other healthcare professionals include:

Patient population

Patients at the WNRC are recovering from an illness or injury of the brain or spine. For example, they may have a stroke, head injury, multiple sclerosis, tumour or other acquired neurological condition. Patients usually have non-progressive conditions and one criterion of admission is that they require input from more than one discipline. The WNRC also has specialist medical and non-medical services for patients suffering from chronic pain.

References

  1. ^ Sir Wylie McKissock established Atkinson Morley's Hospital as a neurosciences centre and later founded The Wolfson: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2540360/pdf/bmj00442-0057.pdf
  2. ^ Early photographs of Atkinson Morley's Hospital and The Wolfson can be found at: http://www.amhlung.org.uk/Image%20Bank%20-%20AMH%20History.htm
  3. ^ The St.John's Therapy Centre services are outlined at: http://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/findstjohns.asp
  4. ^ Headway home page is http://www.headway.org.uk/home.aspx. Link to SW London branch via http://www.headway.org.uk/branches/south-west-london.aspx
  5. ^ The St.George's Hospital site provides details of The Wolfson's services: http://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/services_wolfson.asp
  6. ^ Some of the services are outlined at http://www.abil.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Wolfson-Neurorehabilitation-Centre.pdf
  7. ^ Details of stroke services at St.George's Hospital can be found at: http://www.strokecare.co.uk/stroke-care-facilities-at-st.-georges/whatweoffer
  8. ^ See BBC report at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11022855
  9. ^ This goal-oriented approach is described at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a714022178~frm=abslink
  10. ^ "Wolfson Neurorehabilitation Centre: Introducing the Wolfson Neurorehabilitation Centre" [patient handbook]. Revised Feb 2009.
  11. ^ The Wolfson approach has been highly influential in the development of other neurorehabilitation services, see: http://www.digg.org.uk/Expert%20Patient/expert2.asp
  12. ^ The STBIRA standards were developed by tertiary rehabilitation services in South London, including The Wolfson, and can be found at: http://www.rhn.org.uk/pdf/standards_20July_202003.pdf