Page 21 - QARANC Vol 16 No 1 2018

To the uninitiated, DMRC (Headley Court) is the Military’s leading rehabilitation centre, renowned around the world for being at the forefront of defence rehabilitation. Consultant-led, we house every speciality under one roof; dieticians, doctors, exercise rehabilitation instructors, healthcare assistants, mental health practitioners, physios, prosthetists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists, radiographers, social workers et al.
Post Op HERRICK and Op TELIC, the common assumption is that we are not as busy as we once were. False! We are as busy as ever. In fact, Defence Medical Rehabilitation (2017) data shows that admissions are at the same level as they were during the peak of the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Defence nursing at Headley Court has often been much-maligned. Where
this stems from I am not sure, but it portrays the work nurses do here unfairly and unjustly. The negative connotations associated with a posting or secondment here are historical; ask anyone who has worked here in recent months and they will tell you what a great place it is to serve. Where else can you treat military patients who continue to stretch the boundaries of rehabilitation from seemingly unsurvivable injuries? Certainly not at Defence Medical Groups.
Within Headley Court we have three wards; The Peter Long Unit – our Healthcare Assistant-led ward, Jubilee Rehabilitation Complex (Ground Floor) – our high-dependency ward, and Jubilee Rehabilitation Complex (First Floor) – our medium-dependency ward. All three wards within Headley Court broadly follow the same mould; caring for up to a total of 80 patients with complex conditions and histories
including burns, trauma, neurological and spinal injuries, a variety of surgical and medical issues, often complicated with ever-increasing mental health needs. Whilst the daily pace is slower than say a medical/respiratory ward within the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, there is more than enough to occupy you throughout your day. Call it a different kind of busy. You even have a chance to enjoy a coffee whilst getting to know your patients, go to the loo, have your lunch, and access one of the three on-site gyms (with swimming pool). There are also ample opportunities to develop both clinically and militarily (which the CoC fully encourage) whilst working with the pain nurse consultant, practice development nurse, clinical quality team, extensive research department, burns and plastics clinic, interventional radiology, ward round, military training, and exercises.
With the move to the Defence National Rehabilitation Centre in Stanford Hall, Loughborough, on the horizon for summer 2018, it is an extremely exciting time to be part of Defence rehabilitation. Military physiotherapists hold Headley Court in the highest regard; in fact they view it as their gold-standard assignment. In the near future, I hope military nurses and HCAs will share that same opinion.
Captain Brent Carter DMRC (Headley Court) www.thednrc.org.uk
THE GAZETTE QARANC 19
Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre, © Knight Frank and BNPS, published with permission
Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (Headley Court) – A Nurse’s Perspective
Headley Court, © Knight Frank and BNPS, published with permission