NHS rehabilitation centre prepares for patients
BBCMedical teams are hoping to use a converted bus called 'the jumbulance' to transfer NHS patients to the new National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) when it opens.
No date for the first patients to arrive at the new facility at Stanford Hall in Nottinghamshire has yet been confirmed, but Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has said they are expected early part of 2026.
Problems with the water quality at the new £105 million 70-bed complex have been blamed for the delay.
The first patients will come from Linden Lodge, a rehabilitation unit at Nottingham City Hospital, before they are joined by others from across the East Midlands.
Medics from Nottingham City Hospital's Linden Lodge rehabilitation unit staged a practice mass transportation, using staff volunteers, before they move patients to the new National Rehabilitation Centre next year.
They hope to use the converted bus, called a 'jumbulance' to transport everyone within a 12-hour period on the same day.
John Shekelton, from The Jumbulance Trust charity, drove the practice route in November and said the converted coach is usually used by the charity to take people with disabilities and illnesses on holiday.
He said his aim was to make the transfer of patients as "stress-free as possible."
"When you are used to sitting in a chair in a hospital, not used to getting out and about, reassurance is key," he added.
"Holding someone's hand can mean the world."
The jumbulance has a fully accessible wheelchair lift, privacy curtains, an accessible toilet and a small kitchen on board.
Dawn Harrison, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, led the trial run alongside colleagues from Linden Lodge.
She said the mock run "went really well and was reassuring for all the staff who have been preparing for the real thing."
She added: "There were still a few minor things that we have adapted to do differently to make the real move from Linden Lodge to the NRC run even more smoothly, but it was satisfying to see our plans come to life.
"We are so excited to be moving to the NRC as we know this will "forever change the way we provide rehabilitation for the better."
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