Equipment trolley for national rehabilitation day

This national rehabilitation day, we have been talking to Nicola Seal, Lead Physiotherapist for the Neurological Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital Southampton, about how Charity funding is helping our patients.

“In Southampton we are the regional neurological trauma centre which means that we see a range of patients. This can be from traumatic injuries like road traffic accidents, to those with neurological injuries, head injuries, subarachnoid haemorrhages, and much more.

Thanks to funding from Southampton Hospitals Charity, we’ve funded a massive rehabilitation trolley filled with games, balls, putty, basically anything to help introduce movement to our patients!

In neuro ICU, we are championing a 24-hour approach to rehabilitation. This trolley will be invaluable to help us to change the culture and ensure everyone’s job is rehabilitation. Having the equipment accessible on the ward and on a moveable trolley will really help the recovery for our patients.

Rehabilitation is not just the traditional stand up, sit down, flex this or that muscle. It is about introducing functional and strength activities too. We are asking our nurses to get involved with getting patients, where possible, to wash and dress themselves as part of their rehabilitation too.

All of this empowers patients to do more for themselves which will really help them with their longer-term rehabilitation.

Our whole physiotherapy team is really excited to use the trolley, and we can see elements of it being used constantly with our patients! Rehabilitation is so important, so thank you to everyone who donated to Southampton Hospitals Charity to make this possible.”