Community Rehab Alliance are calling for national network of appointed rehab leads

The Community Rehab Alliance (CRA) say that appointing a national network of rehab leads is the best way to avoid a never-ending cycle of health crises, in an updated manifesto.

The CRA are an alliance of 50 charities and professional bodies that are committed to improving the commissioning and delivery of rehabilitation, to ensure effective access to rehab.

In an updated manifesto, they call upon every Integrated Care Board to have a rehab lead, who will be responsible for the effective provision and integration of rehabilitation services, both for physical and psychological rehab, which the CRA say will stop access to rehab being a postcode lottery.

The CRA argued that this expansive system would allow rehab services developed during the pandemic, such as to aid the 900,000 long-covid patients that need rehabilitation, different styles of working and new models of care to be more efficiently rolled out across the UK.

This would especially benefit those who have long-term physical or mental health conditions and models suggest that it would put further pressure on the care system if the rehab gap isn’t addressed.

The CRA manifesto has been updated to reflect the current pandemic situation, as community rehab services were paused and a snapshot survey showed that one in five services across the UK has not yet restarted, despite urgent need.

The alliance also called for community rehab to be made an equal priority with domiciliary care, and nursing and residential care in local authority adult social care planning and provision.