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BUBBLE WALL HELPS AUTISTIC BOY SPEAK
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Zac Render, who is autistic and non-verbal, stunned his mum Chrissie after the installation of a bubble wall in their family kitchen prompted him to begin naming the colours he could see on the sensory equipment. Zac, who is five, was diagnosed with autism and global development delay at the age of three, and was “mesmerised” by a bubble wall at a restaurant the family saw while on holiday a few years ago. With the help of charity Children Today, the Renders were able to have one installed in their house, and it’s had a significant impact on the young boy’s life. Not
Over five million NHS England patients waiting for treatment to begin
Figures published by NHS England show that over five million patients are currently waiting to begin treatment due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic - the highest figure since records began in 2007. 385,490 of those patients have now been waiting for over a year for their treatment to begin; this number has, however, fallen from 436,127 in the previous month’s report, showing a substantial decrease. Senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, Tim Gardner, said: “Today’s figures are a stark reminder of the pressure the NHS faces as it works to tackle the enormous backlog in routine hospital care caused by the pandemic. “Nearly 3,000 people have now been waiting more than two years for a procedure which the NHS constitution promises should be performed within 18 weeks, and nearly 400,000 have been waiting over a year. The total number of people waiting for routine hospital care – 5.1 million – is now greater than at any time since records began in 2007. “Waits of this magnitude are not acceptable to anyone and we know that the NHS and government are working hard to find a solution. The NHS needs to increase levels of activity but this will be extremely difficult with significant workforce shortages, post-pandemic staff burn-out and ongoing constraints on capacity due to COVID-19, including social distancing. “The NHS urgently needs additional resources but importantly, local services also need the freedom and support to trial and evaluate innovative new approaches to tackling the backlog and share learning across the country. Making incremental improvements to business as usual, while important, will not be enough to address a challenge of this scale.
only has he spoken without picture cards, but the bubble wall also calms Zac and helps him to sleep. Chrissie told the BBC that Zac was ecstatic when the bubble wall arrived, and instantly started shouting out the colours he could see once the sensory equipment was plugged in and turned on. Speaking to the BBC, Emma Prescott, director of Children Today, said: “Sensory overload can be really distressing for children with autism and sadly bubble tubes and other sensory equipment that can help are prohibitively expensive for many families. “But, as you can tell from Zac’s story, the effect of such a simple item on both the child and the family as a whole is often profound.”
DONATIONS RAISED FOR STUNT WOMAN ALLOW POST-SURGICAL OT
Dayna Grant, a stunt performer and co-ordinator from New Zealand, has set up a donation page to fund brain surgery and subsequent care after suffering a head injury on the set of the upcoming Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings. Xena legend Lucy Lawless, who worked with Dayna as her stunt double on the series, pledged to match whatever fans donated using the hashtag #XenaLove, with the funds going towards paying for the emergency brain surgery and postoperative care, and with fans having raised over $90,000, Dayna will now be able to afford occupational therapy and physiotherapy to aid her return to work. Dayna, who has also worked on movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Wonder Woman 1984, experienced symptoms of traumatic brain injury on the set of Amazon’s JRR Tolkien adaptation, and was sent for scans, which unfortunately revealed that she had an 8mm aneurysm and upper spinal injuries, which surgeons said required emergency surgery. Thanks to fans, however, she is now RCOT-led working scheduled to undergo the surgery next month.
group raises awareness of OTs helping children
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists has been leading a taskforce with a number of other organisations, including the Royal College of Speech and Language, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, the British Academy of Childhood Disability, and the Disabled Children’s Partnership, with the aim of bringing greater access to therapy for children and young people. Having gained the support of Vicky Ford MP, the children’s minister, last November, RCOT met with her to highlight concerns that young people were not able to access therapy at the levels they were pre-pandemic. Ford promptly set up a working group comprised of NHS England, the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care, and Public Health England, which examined children and young people with SEND’s access to therapies. RCOT said that they “will be pushing for cross-departmental support to ensure all children can access occupational therapy at the right time, and in the right place.” Steve Ford, RCOT chief executive, added: “This is really positive news, demonstrating how lobbying by the RCOT public affairs team gets results for our members and society.”
CARE & INDEPENDENCE LAUNCH SAFE PATIENT MOVING AND HANDLING SURVEY
Care & Independence has launched a new survey which hopes to gather important market research from occupational therapists regarding a variety of topics relating to the healthcare moving and handling market. James Bennett, marketing and sales director, said: “As a company we have always prided ourselves on being able to improve the lives of thousands of [disabled] users and their care providers. We are constantly striving to improve upon and enhance the offering we provide and the best way to do this is to really understand the lives, needs and wants of all those we provide a service to and products for. “By hearing direct from occupational therapists and other healthcare providers about their personal experiences and opinions, we can be confident in implementing improvements and investing in the areas most important to our customers.”
The Safe Patient Moving and Handling Market Insight survey covers an assortment of topics, including product knowledge and training, and encourages participants to give their pwn input. As further incentive to take part, the first 50 respondents will be offered a complementary power bank; additional, two people who take part in the free prize draw available to all participants could win an Apple Series 6 watch, or a sling from the Care & Independence Glove range up to the value of £300. The survey will be live until 15 July 2021, and can be accessed via the “contact us” page at careandindpendence.com.
Shropshire hospital gets cutting edge rehabilitation tech
The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Shropshire has become the first hospital in the UK to get access to the Mobile Arm Rehabilitation Kit (MARK), a powered hand and arm orthosis designed to aid the restoration of function to paralysed or weakened upper limbs. The hospital was able to secure the technology thanks to a £50,000 investment from the League of Friends. Used under the care of an occupational therapist, the device can help patients living with physical, sensory or cognitive conditions regain independence. Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Simon Pickard said: “This is a really innovative and progressive piece of equipment that will benefit a large cohort of our patients going forward – especially those with weakened muscles or paralysis that require intensive rehabilitation. “As the first NHS trust to have this system, it means we have the opportunity to be involved in highquality research and will allow us, as a hospital, to provide our patients with world-class care.”