What makes Frenchay BIRU a special place for rehabilitation?
What makes Frenchay Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre (BIRU) a special place for rehabilitation? Our Medical Director and Hospital Director talk about what is special about the team at BIRU.
Watch Alastair’s story about his life at Moorpark
Alastair is one of our residents at Moorpark Place where we provide residential care and support for day-to-day living for men and women on the autistic spectrum. This is his story about why he enjoys living at Moorpark.
Is recovery post brain injury possible against all the odds?
Meet Lee. Lee had a road traffic accident in 2011 and spent time at Frenchay Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre (BIRU) for his rehabilitation. The BIRU team and Lee and his family talk about the amazing recovery he made. Lee is now working and getting on with his life.
Party celebrating 30 years
On 9th February 2019 our much loved housekeeper and colleague, Hyatt Thompson celebrated 30 years working at Huntercombe Hospital Maidenhead. We marked this amazing achievement and hosted a celebratory party to show our appreciation.
Frenchay BIRU’s latest Patient Outcome Report
We are delighted to share our latest patient outcome results for Frenchay BIRU which shows that we are one of the best centres for brain injury rehabilitation in the country. For the full report: Patient Outcomes 2018
Conifer Lodge rated “outstanding” by Care Quality Commission inspectors
Our specialist care home in Wisbech has been rated as “outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission, following an inspection. Conifer Lodge was also rated as good for being safe, being caring and providing effective care and outstanding for being responsive to the needs of its residents and being…
Cedar House Festive Bake Off!
In December, Cedar held its first Christmas cake decorating competition. One of our chefs made all the wards a Christmas cake and the patients were asked to decorate them. We had some fantastic entries and the judges had a very hard time deciding the winner, but a winner…
Welcome to Maddie!
We’ve recently welcomed our new pet rabbit Maddie to the centre – she is 3 months old and her breed is a Dutch mix. As a therapeutic pet for our Residents we hope to have small sessions each day where they can hold her and pet her and…
Music at Cedar House
Cedar House now boasts its own music room in a dedicated building with a range of instruments; drums, keyboards, guitars, bongos and even DJ decks. We also have our own music lead, professional musician, Douglas Mukuze, who ensures that patients can progress and develop their musical abilities. There…
Huntercombe Stafford rated “outstanding” for being caring
Patients told the CQC inspectors that they were happy and safe; they were satisfied they were getting the right support for their problems and had seen progress in themselves. They said they would recommend other people to be treated at the hospital. Our hospital, at Ivetsey Bank, Wheaton…
Using exercise to promote health and wellbeing at Conifer Lodge
At Conifer Lodge we have been encouraging our residents to be fitter and healthier, so we’ve started doing a group evening walk after dinner. To celebrate Mental Health Day, our group of walkers decided to walk a little further to take in some more of the countryside and…
Mersea Island Festival – enabling Cedar house patients to shine
The Cedar House team have been taking patients to the Festival for the past five years and are huge advocates of all that it does for our patients. Historically we’ve only taken a small group of around three patients but this year we were able to take six…
All we want for Christmas… is a visit by a family of reindeer!
When we first started looking into the idea we didn’t even know if it was possible but funnily enough, there’s a company that are local to us that hires out reindeer for exactly our purpose. However, it’s not particularly cheap so we decided to raise funds for it…
Cedar House Summer Fete
The original idea for a summer fete came from a patient (as many of our best ideas do!). Frustrated that they were unable to get out and about to any of the local summer fetes, we decided to bring the fete to them! And the rest, as they…
Join us on 16th June for an information day on Alzheimer’s
The day features three free interactive information sessions where our visitors can learn all about how dementia affects a person and what you can do to make a difference. With an estimated 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia and 24.6 million – 38% of the UK…
Moorpark Place celebrates Mental Health Awareness Week
Moorpark Place staff raised awareness of stress for Mental Health Awareness Week 2018, by carrying out a CPD session for staff. The session focussed on the need for being aware of stress and coping strategies for managing time, and organisation which when mismanaged can create a feeling of…
Days out for Young People at Huntercombe Hospital Stafford
Thursday 14th December saw a group of young people from Thorneycroft and Wedgwood take a trip into a decommissioned nuclear bunker nestled in the sleepy Cheshire countryside. The bunker was built in the 1950s and would have acted as a centre of regional government if ever a nuclear…
Learning Disabilities Work Week
By Lucy Berrisford – Occupational Therapist, Eldertree Lodge Learning Disabilities Work Week is from 6th to 12th November 2017, when Mencap is celebrating what great employees people with a learning disability can make www.mencap.org.uk/get-involved/learning-disability-work-week #LDWorkWeek. Mencap works to improve the lives of people with a learning disability, and…
Halloween
The day consisted of pumpkin decorating, fancy dress, spooky bingo, music and a body parts story where participants put their hands into the box to try to feel what is in there. Patients requested to help decorate the sports hall with items they had made throughout the week…
Huntercombe Maidenhead support Young Minds Campaign
When the team spoke to the young people about the campaign, they were really keen to get involved and wanted to wear something yellow to help raise awareness. The young people created t-shirts and a banner for the #HelloYellow campaign and took pictures of them. Patients said: Young…
