The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre provides highly specialist rehabilitation to patients who have experienced Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) under a contract with NHSE Specialised Commissioning.
The aim of the service is to optimise the autonomy and health in people with SCI by:
- Providing acute management and rehabilitation of people with SCI
- Providing ongoing management of people with SCI
- Promoting optimal outcomes, leading to reduced mortality and morbidity
- Supporting patients to maximise their potential for independent living and for return to employment, education, hobbies and activities of daily living.
The service is commissioned to provide beds for 39 patients requiring specialist Spinal Cord Injury inpatient rehabilitation, with up to 3 of those being Level 3 respiratory patients.
The catchment area of the service is the footprints of the following Major Trauma Centres, from where the majority of referrals originate:
- Severn (based at Southmead Hospital, Bristol)
- Peninsula (based at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth)
- Wessex (based at University Hospital, Southampton)
The majority of the catchment lies in the South West region, but the Wessex footprint includes Hampshire and Isle of Wight which are part of the South East region and additionally a service is provided to Channel Island patients under a separate contract. See at map of the region that we serve on our About Us page.
Patients with a Spinal Cord Injury are referred to the service through the National SCI Database and the Acute Outreach Team manage the process of determining the best pathway for each patient, including admission to the Spinal Centre in Salisbury as appropriate and supporting the patient and their treating team through this.
Specialist SCI inpatient rehabilitation is provided in Salisbury by a dedicated multidisciplinary team, with a target length of stay of 12 weeks. Rehabilitation is tailored to individual needs, so this may vary and patients are only discharged when they have achieved their agreed goals and suitable accommodation, equipment and support is available. The Spinal Centre Discharge Co-ordinator and members of the MDT work with local services to ensure this.
Patients with SCI who are not, for whatever reason, admitted for inpatient rehabilitation are offered a Short Stay Assessment appointment at the centre. This may be on an overnight or day case basis, according to the needs and wishes of the patient. This is a comprehensive assessment, including medical, nursing and therapy elements and often an investigation of bladder function. At the end of this assessment a plan is agreed, which will include ongoing support and further interventions or signposting as appropriate.
All patients who have been discharged from in patient rehabilitation or attended for a Short Stay Assessment will be offered lifelong support, through regular out patient reviews (often virtually, but face to face available as well) at intervals as appropriate to their needs and access to the outpatient nursing and therapy teams for advice, troubleshooting and signposting.
The catchment area of the service is the footprints of the following Major Trauma Centres, from where the majority of referrals originate:
Severn
(based at Southmead Hospital, Bristol)
Peninsula
(based at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth)
Wessex
(based at University Hospital, Southampton)