Page 122 - RAPTC Number 102 2018/19

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REGIONAL REHABILITATION UNIT CATTERICK
WO2 (QMSI) M MacLaughlan RAPTC
Imoved from 5 Armoured Medical Regiment in July 18 to assume my new post at RRU Catterick as the RTSA. After a thorough handover takeover with SMI Ronald, I had the small task of
dealing with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) team arriving to conduct a comprehensive inspection within the first week of my tenure. Overall the inspection went extremely well and gave me an opportunity to see where we could improve as a department.
RRU Catterick provides clinical management of moderate musculoskeletal conditions to the military population within UK North. We provide residential rehabilitation courses for up to 540 service personnel per year. Our aim is to sustain and improve the operational effectiveness of injured service personnel by provision of high quality targeted rehabilitation, accelerating their return to optimal physical capacity, whilst influencing their psychological and social health. The monthly inpatient rehabilitation courses held at RRU Catterick continually receive high praise from the service personnel who attend the courses. This is testament to the team’s dedication to deliver on our aims.
With the implementation of Physical Employment Standards (PES) and the Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR), we are reviewing the late stage rehab course to make it more specific to each individual’s needs. The RRU received an equipment uplift in Jan 19 to support these changes and we are expecting a high-performance floor to be installed before the end of 18/19 financial year.
The current ERI team consists of Sgt (SI) ‘Soph’ Ellis, Sgt (SI) ‘JP’ Palmer and Fiona Murphy.
Sgt Ellis returned to Motocross this year with the plan to establish an Army team. On his return to off-road riding he was re-introduced to the various terrains mainly using his shoulders to slow him down. The first impact resulted in a disruption of the ACJ on the right-hand side. The second resulted in a shoulder dislocation and ACJ disruption on the left-hand side. On the plus side, he received £750 from an insurance claim and 2 weeks sick leave. Due to these recent shoulder issues Sgt Ellis has a deeper understanding of shoulder injuries and has become the shoulder course specialist. Away from hurting himself Sgt Ellis has recently become a father to twin boys Cain and Casey Ellis; future RAPTCIs.
Sgt Palmer has recently arrived from ITC PCRF where he was employed as an ERI within a busy Phase 1 training establishment. He was the lead Instructor of the advanced rehabilitation phase for the recruits. During this phase the recruits were re-introduced to Loaded marching, Plyometric training and SAQ drills. He has assisted with several UK North sporting events over the last year and will be taking over as 6 a side Football Secretary for the 19/20 season. He is looking forward to his time at the RRU and brings a wealth of knowledge from his previous post which will enhance the RRU as we continue to move forward as a department.
Recently the region has seen Sgt Hull take up the position of 4 Scots ERI and SSgt Laker is conducting a dual role ERI position with 21 Engineers.
Sgt Hull completed his posting at the RRU in Dec 18 and has been appointed as 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 Scots) Thor ERI. With a keen CO looking forward to making an impact on his unit, multiple meetings on best practice were held prior to his arrival at the Unit to ensure that he could hit the ground running and have the support of the CoC. The main concerns which he identified were infrastructure, facilities, and equipment available. With PCRF Catterick already awaiting their new facility, and currently in an old accommodation block, this was going to be a massive challenge. Also, splitting his time from clinical
assessments within the PCRF to group sessions and overseeing (and progressing) individual programs to ensure minimum time is spent on rehab would be the priority on ensuring that balance was most effective. Currently Sgt Hull and SSgt Pennington are pushing to get a complete overhaul of the 4 Scots gym to bring it up to the modern era. Which will allow him to develop and build the physical attributes of 4 Scots ready to deploy in 2020.
During his time at RRU Catterick he initiated Regional Functional Resilience Training (RFRT). This package was designed to upskill the AAPTIs in the region. The package consisted of education of the RAMP warm up, progression and regression of functional exercises and Yoga techniques. The package received high praise from all those who took part in the workshops. They also felt that the package better equipped them for taking L1/2 PT within their respective Units. The RRU will continue to run these packages in TY 19/20.
SSgt Laker has recently moved from PCRF Dishforth to 21 Engineer Regiment in a dual role position. 21 Engr Regiment are an extremely busy unit. This year alone the regiment have commitments in Iraq – Op Shader, Somalia – Op Catan, and Oman – Ex Kanjar. Including returning sub-units from Op Trenton – South Sudan and Ex Oakapple – Kenya. The unit also has a functional military dive team and numerous overseas Expeds in Nepal and France.
Due to the operational nature of the Sappers the unit requires robust strength and conditioning development in preparation for operational combat engineering. In order to achieve these goals unit AAPTIs require continual development and the gymnasium eagerly awaits the PTE uplift in support of levels 1-3 PT.
SSgt Laker is currently conducting ERI clinics one day a week at the local PCRF in Dishforth and treating unit personnel that have sustained MSKIs. Early indications show that he is getting good results with the patient cohort that he is seeing. He is also heavily involved in level 1 group therapy and the management of all injured personnel within the unit.