1. Consultant in rehabilitation
Rookwood and Research
Dr Jenny Thomas
Consultant in rehabilitation

3. Why am I here? An opportunity to talk about the service?
To convince you that rehabilitation is important?
To help me deliver a world class service?
To promote academic excellence?

5. Rookwood hospital 32 inpatients beds
Regional service for specialist neurorehabilitation
Age 18 years and above
Rehabilitation community setting
Population of 1.25 million
Cardiff and vale, Gwent, RCT
All Wales service for minimally aware patients

7. What are we interested in?
Patients and their stories
Safe care
Appropriate care
Minimise impairment
Maximising activity
Discharging patients home

9. How do we deliver care?

12. Research opportunities?
Busy clinical load – increasing complexity
Emphasis on service development
Restrictive job plans
Emphasis on targets and waiting times
Little chance of pure academic interest
No emphasis on outcomes
Funding / ethics / junior staff / admin support

13. Research opportunities
Evidence base
Robust support for business cases
Specific information for populations
Evidence for treatments especially therapeutic
Payment by results

14. Research opportunities?
Rich source of clinical cases
Oncology model – every patient is a research project
Team work – expertise in complexity
Enthusiastic staff
Expectation that some research/ audit is done

15. How do we deliver care?

16. Research opportunities?
Emphasis on service development
Restrictive job plans
Emphasis on targets and waiting times
Busy clinical load – increasing complexity
Little chance of pure academic interest
No emphasis on outcomes
Funding / ethics / junior staff / admin support
Build in research to development plans
Support for allocated time / supervision
Improved ability to deliver
Decrease waste
Ready supply of research material
Evidence based practice
Publish outcomes
Support for practicalities

17. Prioritise clinically relevant research
Clinical networks linking with research networks
Research champions
Promote clinical academics
Research as part of the clinical culture

18. Culture shift? SPI – safer patient initiative 1000 lives
Bundles of care