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Brain injured patients from all across Scotland will now be treated in Edinburgh as part of a nationally-funded specialist service.
Paid for by the Scottish Executive, the new service will allow dedicated staff to be employed to treat around 300 people with severe brain injury every year. At least £50,000 will be made available and exact details of how the service will be organised and funded will be revealed in April in 2006.
Dr Brian Pentland, clinical director of the new initiative, known as the Scottish Brain Injuries Rehabilitation Service, said, “The establishment of this new network will do a great deal of good in raising the profile of this much neglected group of patients. It will allow us to map out the necessary resources and training needs for their treatment.”
Brain injury can be caused by strokes, car crashes, motorcycle accidents and a variety of other traumas, and is the most common cause of severe disability among young adults in the UK.
The decision to fund the brain injury treatment centre was announced by Health Minister Andy Kerr, who also unveiled plans for other new services in Scotland including inpatient psychiatry for children and neurosurgery for people with severe mental disorders.
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