Next Steps After Rehab? CHC etc and who to talk to?

[HubbyOfSeriousInjury]

My wife had her accident approx 18months ago. She was in ITU for approx 1 month then Acute Trauma Rehab hospital ward for approx 6 months since when she has been in a Neuro Rehab facility funded by our local NHS for a little less than a year. Her funding is renewed periodically but they have warned me that sooner or later this will stop. It is likely that her significant cognitive and memory impairments will mean that she will reach a point beyond which she will not improve regardless of how much further rehab therapy she has.

I have always been aware of this but, while I'm good at dealing with the short term issues that have arisen, I've not been good at thinking about the future.

The real problem is I don't even know what I should be asking of who. Ideally she would return home but this is unlikely (in my unqualified opinion) because of her on-going care needs and the unsuitability of our house for any kind of conversion. I assume that when the funding runs out, she won't just be thrown out onto the street but I don't know what will/can happen.

I am vaguely aware that there is something called CHC (Continuing Health Care) funding that she will need but I really don't know as much about that as I think I should and don't know who I need to talk to about it.

I spoke with Headway in the very first days after her accident and they were very helpful at that point but I've not spoken to them since. Headway are on my list of people to speak to though (not sure if nationally or locally).

Apologies for the unstructured garble above but that's kind of reflective of my thinking at the moment! I really just need to know what the process is going forward.

[philbou]

hi buddy

Hope your ok

Try not to read too much doom into the rehab teams words

Improvements continue after rehab i hate the archaic thinking of the nhs and doctors on this point and its been proven wrong so many times by people on here who continue to improve even after discharge from rehab

The plain truth of it is that inpatient rehab is expensive and theres a limit to it and its often covered by costs

Chc assesment is a requirement of the discharge process and also everything about your home will be assessed before anything is done as to the suitability

Fight for what you want to happen

Make sure everything's in place and sorted before you agree to any discharge and if your not happy with anything tell them you will raise it as an unsafe discharge

At some point you will need to find out about your appointed social worker make sure its a senior one who oversees the process .you will be unfortunalty run around with them swapping it always seems

But they will have your wife best interests at heart .they do a very hard job and are very much under recognised in their jobs

only you and ultimately your wife can decide what she wants to do and where to go

Nothing happens quickly in the nhs and even less in the community setting

I hoped you're learned a little from the mdt teams about rehab physio and slt etc

A positive outlook is required and your stamina and determination is paramount

I hope thats helped a little

Im here to help as much as i can

If you have any specific questions just message me

Stay strong buddy

[HubbyOfSeriousInjury in reply to philbou]

Thanks Phil,

There's some helpful info in your reply. In fact when I checked my alerts I realised I've asked pretty much the same question about 6 months ago and you replied helpfully then too. worryingly it just shows how little I've done abut it in the last 6 months. Time to get on the phone to a few people!

I'm not too gloomy about the assessment about further improvement - I don't think I worded it correctly. I think the position is more that she may well continue to improve over time but it will be as a result of time rather than therapy.

[philbou in reply to HubbyOfSeriousInjury]

When the rehab unit wanted to discharge my wife it was agreed she was to go to the local community hospital while i finished off alterations to the house

That way she would get to meet the community rehab teams and get used to them before moving back home all the time continuing with rehab

She was in the local hospital for approx 6 weeks then covid hit and they cleared out the hospitals which is why she ended up in a care home . that bit felt like a failure to me and it made me rush to get the house extension adaptations done . Looking back i haven't got a clue how it got finished in time but with lots of help from friends family and a great builder it got done and from being in a locked down care home from march that year she came home for Christmas

Im eternally grateful to the social workers and brain injury team and the social care that organised it and my work for being so understanding

I guess what I'm trying to say is

Never give up

My wife was discharged with a never will walk again and will need 24 hr care diagnosis from the rehab mdt teams

Now shes able to walk assisted and talk a little all because i continued her rehab And i will still until shes better

There are no limits to recovery

I see recovery as

If you had two school kids and one sat looking out the window all day ,the other sat and listened and took part in lessons.which one would pass there exams ? .thats the input of continuous therapy The brain is a wonderful thing We can all learn new things if we try i could learn to play the piano if i put my mind to it Nueroplastipsicty never stops it just takes time and determination to succeed

it sounds as though you need the diy sos team on it

I don't know what your local council are like but they have an occupational therapist get them involved too in the discharge process they will help address the suitability of your home

There are home adaptation grants they are really hard to get

But theres only your wife and you that can decide what to do

Im still working full time my wife stays home and has carers visits , the house has been made disabled and wheelchair friendly

It kind of works for us but its very tiring for me and i know what your going through and ill help in anyway i can buddy

[fity123r]

hi I hope your ok

my hubby had a brain injury 2years ago he was in a rehab hospital for 6months after that the hospital had an chc meeting basically its when u have a meeting with the doctors pyshios ots and the chc nurse assessor with your social worker they ask questions about the person who had the injury the chc is about health care needs and not social needs eg my hubby had a peg feed so that's a health need my hubby did not sleep during the night and he adgitated all the time that's a health need so they give u scores on what's the individuals health needs

After having the meeting my husband had full chc funding and he was sent home with a package of care which to be honest what I wanted to I wanted him to come home as I knew that home was the best place for him and to be honest it has not been easy because I work full time to

and you when the doctors say this is best they going to improve that's totally bullshit my husband had severe cognition impairment after his injury he had no capacity he could not walk or talk could not do nothing for him self this is after 6months of rehab so the rehab was a waste of time

now my hubby has improved so much he can walk feed himself and slightly is talking to his cognition is getting better to so don't believe the doctor in just how much they can improve not even they know themselves

when my husband went back to c his rehab consultant in Sept the consultant was amazed in just how much he has recovered he said to me this is a unexpected recovery and this was the consultant who told me he would not recover anymore

try not to worry abt the chc because the hospital discharge team will sort out the chc if your wife has health needs so can't just send her home without any care package or anything else in place believe me they can't do that

I really hope the best recovery for your wife 🙏