Four research projects were obtained by rehabilitation staff currently based at Linden Lodge at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), and who will move to the NRC next year.
The research has been funded by the University of Nottingham and Cisco, via the NRC digital strategy team and through its country digital acceleration programme.
The projects will look at:
- improving insight impairment in patients with acquired brain injuries;
- determining a competency framework for the role of a Professional Rehabilitation Nurse;
- evaluating current levels of rehabilitation provision with the aim to increase rehabilitation intensity;
- exploring the use of ‘patient terminals’ where patients have access to numerous aids to support their care while undergoing rehabilitation.
The NRC is a 70-bed, purpose-built and highly energy efficient new rehabilitation facility as part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme. The specialist NHS facility will be built on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate near Loughborough, home to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre which opened in 2018. The NRC is due to open in Summer 2025.
In addition to providing excellent patient care, the NRC will also be a national hub for innovation, cutting-edge research and development, and training and education. Therefore, the NRC has two academic partners - the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University, and a national consortium of 24 universities across the country to ensure the NRC remains at the forefront of rehabilitation research and expertise.
The first research project funded by the University of Nottingham and delivered by Louise Elphick, an Advanced Occupational Therapist, and Dr Hayley Sapsford, Clinical Psychologist, will explore the value of both formal and informal interventions in patients with acquired brain injury, with the aim of increasing their insight, which has been impacted by their injury.
Impairment in insight impacts patient motivation and engagement in their care and therapy, can lead to risky behaviours (absconding or falls), extend the length of inpatient stay, and results in poor recovery outcomes. It is therefore important to understand and identify what works and what can be improved for our current and our future patients.
Louise said: “As a clinician new to research, this is a really exciting opportunity to develop research knowledge and skills, and complete the investigation in the clinical area where I work.
“This is an opportunity to investigate the interventions that are used regularly with this group of patients, and will help to ensure that we are providing excellent quality rehabilitation for the benefit of the patients.”
The second University of Nottingham-supported research project aims to create a competency framework for the role of a Professional Rehabilitation Nurse – a role which does not yet exist in the UK but will be needed for the National Rehabilitation Centre.
This is being led by Jade Miller, Linden Lodge Deputy Ward Manager, and will scope out the clinical competencies required to rehabilitate a range of patients following major life-changing events with the hope of creating a future accredited course.
The third research project is led by two Linden Lodge psychologists – Dr Hayley Sapsford and Dr Kerry Burvill – and will explore staff and patients’ perspectives of the new digital technology being implemented at the current NUH neuro-rehabilitation unit.
The ‘patient terminals’ will aim to incorporate personalised and individualised rehabilitation programmes and advice, access to their weekly rehabilitation schedule (with alerts/reminders built in), ability to control their room environment (such as temperature control), have access to a nurse call (with a two-way radio system to communicate needs) as well as being an entertainment device. Hayley and Kerry are particularly focused on how these terminals will be accessible to patients who have limitations with speech, dexterity and cognition.
Finally, the last project is led by the NRC service improvement lead, Alison Wildt, who will be exploring the current provision of therapy with a view to repeating this when the team have moved to the new build where it is expected that a more intense therapy provision will ensue. Alison is interested to understand the extent to which an intense rehabilitation programme will have on patient outcomes and key indicators such as length of stay.
Professor Pip Logan, Academic Director for the NRC at the University of Nottingham, said:
“It’s a great pleasure to be able to offer this opportunity which brings research and clinical staff closer together for the benefit of patients in the hospital. The research topics will have a quick and direct impact on patients, and these benefits will continue into the NRC when it opens.
“Increasing research capacity and capability in nurses and allied health care professionals is one of our university’s priorities, so having a broad range of professionals winning the grants for these projects is very exciting.”
Dr Vicky Booth, NRC Research Workstream Lead at the University of Nottingham, said:
“These projects are exciting in their potential to directly impact and improve patient care, as well as influence the inclusion of rehabilitation technologies into the NRC.
“This research will provide solutions to real issues that the clinical teams face every day and we are proud to be supporting such individuals to contribute to the vision of the NRC.”
These research projects are due to be completed by June 2025, ahead of the team moving to the new build. Updates on the findings will be available on the NRC website at: Current projects - National Rehabilitation Centre