Priory Mount Eveswell is a specialist care centre in Newport, South Wales, which provides leading person-centred neurorehabilitation programmes that are bespoke to the severity and complexity of a person’s particular neurodisability. This includes acquired brain injury (ABI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), strokes and progressive neurological conditions (PNCs) such as motor neurone disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS) or Huntington's disease.

Our approach

Our intensive rehabilitation service caters for patients aged 18 years and over by delivering clinically effective, evidence-based care. The unit provides rehabilitation for a range of patients, including those with prolonged disorders of consciousness (low awareness or minimally conscious state) to those who are independent in many activities.

Mount Eveswell offers both low and high-intensity rehabilitation. This allows patients the opportunity to continue to achieve their rehabilitation potential within a community-based setting, which maximises opportunities to enhance a patient’s quality of life.

Mount Eveswell specialises in complex chest and respiratory management as well as tracheostomy management. We also provide assessments and rehabilitation of prolonged disorders of consciousness along with support for the following areas of neurorehabilitation:

• Postural and spasticity management with on-site use of botulinum toxin therapy
• Dysphagia management/PEG and PEJ feeding
• Nutritional assessment and review
• Use of assistive communication and augmentative technology
• Sensory regulation and stimulation management programmes
• Cognitive rehabilitation and functional retraining
• Management of violence and aggression
• End-of-life care

The multidisciplinary team will assess patients prior to any admissions. We discharge patients from the unit once they reach the maximum potential of their physical, mental and medical needs. We discharge patients to other step-down units once their mobility, behaviour and cognition have been improved.

The team

Our neurorehabilitation services employ a comprehensive multidisciplinary team led by a consultant in neurorehabilitation. The team includes:

• Neurorehabilitation consultant
• Clinical psychologist
• Occupational therapist
• Physiotherapist
• Registered general nurses (RGNs)
• Activity co-ordinators
• Healthcare assistants

We also receive input from a local GP every two weeks or whenever it is required.

An environment supporting recovery

The service provides:

• 16 bedrooms
• A gym, featuring a tilt table, exercise bike and Oswestry standing frame
• A hydrotherapy bath

Outcome measures

In order to ensure that our patients receive the very best treatment throughout every stage of their rehabilitation, we regularly monitor their progress using a range of outcome measures, including:

• Functional Independence Measure and Functional Assessment Measure
• Northwick Park Therapy Dependency Scale

Outcomes are also measured by a reduction in the amount of medical and nursing care that the individual requires. Patients are often admitted with complex postural needs and through intensive therapy, achieve improved musculoskeletal health, skin integrity, reduced chest infections and as a consequence, a lower frequency of hospital admissions.