I recently emailed the admissions office at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Wandsworth, London to see if I met their criteria for referral as, over four years after my ABI, I have received no rehabilitation. The RHN is not an NHS hospital so it has the freedom to pick and choose who it treats. I received a quick and sympathetic response but not a positive one. They do not offer assessments by specialists or outpatient appointments so, if you are a carer of someone suffering from a brain injury that affects consciousness, I would suggest you contact the admissions office for advice. Don’t, however, assume your relative/ patient will be accepted.
Whilst this was a disappointment, it has loaded the gun pointed at the Secretary of State from whom I shall ask my MP to obtain an explanation as to how this systemic neglect is compatible with the NHS Constitution. We all have rights to be treated and ignoring a need is far from ethical. I would like the Head of the local trust (infamous due to recent unrelated maternity unit failings) to explain why I have been abandoned!
I think the locum who advised me to watch YouTube in lieu of physiotherapy may rue his words…