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We currently support a young man called Benjamin, who sustained a spinal cord injury after a back flip landing went wrong. As a result, he has a C4 fracture and a C2-C6 spinal cord compression.
Once Benjamin was medically fit for discharge, we took on his package of support. He planned to move in with his parents until his flat had been adapted to meet his needs and, as he has a partner and family, Benjamin chose to receive a smaller package of support compared to what would have normally been commissioned for someone with his injuries.
After speaking with Benjamin, it was agreed that his Personal Assistant (P.A.) would help him to get up out of bed, attend to his bowel care and assist him in getting washed and dressed. Therefore, his package of support was 08.30am – 13.30pm, 7 days a week, double up.
Our Complex Nurse Specialist (CNS) and Complex Care Manager (CCM) went to visit Benjamin in hospital to carry out an assessment, so that support plans could be put together and we could get a better understanding of the type of person Benjamin wanted us to recruit as his potential P.A’s.
We were ideally looking for a team of 4 P.A’s. As it turned out, we already knew of a P.A. whose client had recently passed away and was looking to return to work, so we arranged a meet and greet with Benjamin in the hospital. Our CCM was present to support with this as we know that meeting a P.A. can be overwhelming for individuals who have never had a package of support before. The candidate was successful. We then sourced a further 6 candidates, all of which had meets and greets, and Benjamin chose 3 more people to complete his team.
Our CNS took each candidate through our theory and practical clinical training program, which included shadow shifts in the hospital, right the way through to his discharge home. By working together and enabling Benjamin to make his own choices throughout the recruitment process, he was able to go home on the agreed discharge date.
Since then, Benjamin has continued to go from strength to strength and was later able to move into his own specially adapted flat, where his fantastic team continue to assist him in his daily activities.
