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The Stroke Rehabilitation Unit (SRU) based at Mount Gould Hospital in Plymouth is a 15 bed consultant lead unit.

It is staffed by Doctors, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists. There is also access to Dietitians and Clinical Psychologists as required.

The aim of the SRU is to provide ongoing therapy following a stroke in an inpatient setting. The usual length of stay is between 2-6 weeks depending on the level of care and rehabilitation required.

 

Different disciplines will help with different areas, for example:

 

Nursing:

• Bladder and bowel continence
• Managing medications
• Establishing safe day and night routines

 

Physiotherapy:

• Limb movement, strength and balance
• Mobility

 

Occupational Therapy:

• Practice with day-to-day tasks, such as washing and dressing and kitchen activities
• Memory and thinking skills
• Assessing home environment for discharge and organising equipment

 

Speech and Language Therapy:

• Talking, reading and writing skills
• Aiding ability to communicate
• Swallowing

 

Clinical Psychology:

• Mood and coming to terms with having had a stroke

 

Our Support staff, including Health Care Assistants and housekeeping staff, will help with all day-to-day care needs and provide meals and refreshments throughout the day.

The team work together with the patient and their family / support network. We will have a meeting early on to set patient centred goals for the rehabilitation journey and will have follow up meetings to discuss progress and to plan for discharge. We encourage family to be as involved as possible in the process and the rehabilitation of their relatives. This can include joining therapy sessions and being taught exercises and tasks to complete when they visit.

Our aim is always to get someone home if this is their preferred option, however this is not always possible due a person’s care needs. We work closely with Social Workers to ensure that our patients are discharged as safely as possible with the support they require. This could be the support of carers at home, or within a care home setting (whether short term or long term).

Sometimes there is a wait for care support at home. If a patient’s rehabilitation no longer needs to be carried out on the SRU, they may be discharged to an interim setting (such as a care home) whilst they wait for care to start at home. Referral to ongoing rehabilitation in the community will be made at this stage if appropriate. 

 

How family and friends can support their loved ones in hospital

Spending a long time in hospital away from family and friends can be a challenging time therefore as well as visiting, other ways which the patient could be supported is having access to stimulation and home comforts such as:

• Radios / books / crosswords
• Electronic tablets
• Own clothes brought in from home
• Family photos

 

Points of contact for families

The Ward Staff usually keep families informed of the progress of patients as a matter of course.

You may contact the Ward Clerk, David McGrath, on 01752 435870 if you need to get in touch with a member of the nursing or therapy team specifically.

Medical Staff can usually be spoken with during the ward rounds on Tuesday afternoons. You will have to wait until the doctor reaches the bedside of your friend or relative, usually between 2pm and 4pm. If you prefer to speak to the medical staff on the phone, speak to the Ward Clark, who will contact the doctor to schedule this for you.

 

Catchment area

The Stroke Rehab Unit in Plymouth provides support to those patients from Plymouth and the surrounding areas (including East Cornwall, Tavistock and the South Hams). For patients from further afield there are other inpatient Stroke Rehab Units, including Teign ward in Newton Abbott Community Hospital and Woodfield Stroke Rehabilitation Unit in Bodmin Hospital. Which unit patients attend will be dependent on their GP.