I N P AT I E N T R E H A B
A specialist neurological care centre is adopting a new model of working for their therapy and care teams to work more closely than ever before, as a means of maximising client outcomes and broadening the skills and knowledge of staff.
Care and therapy collaboration maximises client outcomes Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre Lancashire has launched its Collaborate project, to give both its therapists and carers the opportunity to work together in the care of clients, giving valuable insight into each client’s wider care. And as well as delivering care in the most collaborative way possible, optimising client outcomes at the specialist site, the therapy and care teams are both able to learn about the other’s roles in the client journey - overcoming the ‘them and us’ perception that can exist between teams, and offering valuable new levels of involvement to carers and healthcare assistants in particular. Collaborate has been welcomed by staff and clients alike, with clients having input into the project since its pilot stage in September last year, to ensure they felt it was working for them; feedback has included therapists using overly technical language that clients could not easily understand. Now established as a new way of working in the Preston care centre - which opened in 2020, during the height of the first wave of the pandemic - its positive impact continues to be felt. “We looked at the drivers for change, as it Neuro-rehabilitation there is no standardised pathway. We did a piece of work to look at best practice, underpinned by evidence, and from that we knew we wanted to achieve a more collaborative approach,” says Hannah Halliwell,
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head of therapy at Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre Lancashire. “We strongly believe that we need to make every contact count, and the evidence shows that by working in an inter-disciplinary way, you can achieve better clinical outcomes, which delivers benefits for both clients and the workforce. “Initially, the driver was around patient outcomes, but this is also enabling us to create an empowered, up-skilled, more inclusive team, which we believe will help us
with staff retention and the fact they want to come to work. “Our aims are based around the core values of Sue Ryder, which is to be supported, connected and impactful, and we felt that this project was fulfilling these.” Carers at the centre have been fulsome in their praise of the project, which is allowing them to become more involved in client therapy, broadening their role further. “Because therapists do a different job to carers, there used to be a bit of a 'them and us' feel at work, simply because we didn't really overlap or work together that much,” said carer Michelle Worswick. "Since the project was introduced we are definitely working more as a team. “For example, the therapists have shown us how to do gentle stretches with the clients so before we start daily routines like washing and dressing, we can do the stretches and then it becomes much easier to lift up someone's limb to wash them or get their jumper on. "I think this approach is definitely better for the clients.” Hannah agrees with this, and is pleased with the impact it is having on the team. “I know some of our healthcare assistants feel their voice is being heard now, which for us as a service is so important. For me personally, I feel very strongly about this.
