Support in Greater Manchester

[Loveblue123]

Hi, I have given a summary of my son's brain injury in my profile. He is British but has been living in Cyprus for 3 years and that is where his motorbike accident took place. My husband and I flew over to Cyprus as soon as we heard of the accident and have remained here since to look after him. It has been very traumatic and not helped by the language barrier and unfamiliar healthcare system. We were unable to bring him back to the UK as he would not have been entitled to treatment on the NHS. He is making good physical progress but he is struggling with short term memory which will hold him back from returning to work. We are struggling to get him assessed as to what help he needs to move forward. We are planning a trip to the UK to see family for a few weeks in October and I was hoping to arrange for him to see a neuropsychologist privately whilst we are there. Please could anyone suggest a good one to see in the Greater Manchester/ Lancashire area or suggest alternative more beneficial doctor/therapist to see.

Apologies for the long waffly post but any help would be much appreciated!

[Alibongo60]

Hi mother goose, welcome to our site I don’t think we’ve heard from you before, I think I may have read your sons story in the Manchester evening news,I hope we are able to help. I’m a little puzzled as I’m not well up on protocol etc but if your son is a British citizen, why is he not entitled to nhs support, and in which case we have one of the best neuro centres in the uk in Salford, and I saw an extremely very nice and very good nueropsychologist called Emily at Salford, it was a couple of years ago but I’m sure they can put someone your way. I hope they are able to help you, and your son is able to continue to progress, keep us updated, and we will support you any way we can but it sounds you went through the worse part alone. Take care love Alice xx

[Loveblue123 in reply to Alibongo60]

Yes, this is my first post but I have been reading other posts which have been really helpful. My son is a british citizen but because he has been living outside of the UK he isn't entitled to NHS treatment. The British Embassy told us this and a doctor friend in the UK confirmed it but I will make some more enquiries to be sure . Thank you for the advice about Salford I will make contact with them.

We did go through the worst part alone, it was made extra difficult with covid visiting restrictions which meant that our son was very alone and scared in hospital with nurses who didn't speak much English.

Thank you for your support, I really appreciate it.

[cat3]

Hi Mothergoose. You could contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 0345 015 4033 for accurate information on your son's eligibility for NHS treatment.

Also, maybe the Headway team could advise you, on freephone 0808 800 2244 or [e-mail]

I hope you'll find a way through this complicated and distressing situation and that your son gets the treatment he needs.....

Thinking of you, Cat x

[Loveblue123 in reply to cat3]

Thank you so much

[Jowood29]

hi, I saw Dr Sheldrick at Salford Royal hospital, neuropsychologist. I saw him under the NHS, for 5 years. He’s excellent.

[Loveblue123 in reply to Jowood29]

Thank you so much for the recommendation

[Hakuna_Matata_]

Hello Mothergoose23. It wasn’t what you asked for specifically but there is a charity in Salford called BASIC (Brain and Spinal Injury Charity) that help with rehab. You do have to pay to use their facilities but I believe that there are sources for you to help with funding.

I know that they have at least one other charity that come in that can speak to you if you require further support. But at the very least, you can either be signposted to further help or simply speaking to others who are in the same situation can be really helpful.

if you check out their website you can see that they are well equipped with a lot of things to help with recovery. They have physios, gym equipment and a really good VR machine to help work on relearning to walk safely again.

I hope this is of some use.

[Loveblue123 in reply to Hakuna_Matata_]

Thank you, I haven't come across BASIC before and will definitely take a look