On 8 December 2021, speakers from across the neurorehabilitation sector explored this topic in a panel discussion with attendee Q&A. The panel discussed the sector in detail, contextualising the challenges facing neurorehabilitation from the pressures caused by the acute redeployment of staff due to Covid, the carer crisis, the low national priority of neurorehabilitation, chronic underfunding and poor quality provision, particularly in the community.
Chaired by Dr Edmund Bonikowski, Founder of NRC Medical Experts, the panel included Ian Pearce, Director of NeuroProactive, John Davis, Consulting Principal Lawyer at Slater + Gordon and Catrin May, Co-Founder, Owner & Director of Breakthrough Case Management.
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Meet your speakers
Dr Edmund Bonikowski, Panel Chair & Founder NRC Medical Experts
Dr Bonikowski, a consultant in rehabilitation medicine with over 25 years experience, has held acute and community-based NHS posts in neurological and amputee rehabilitation. Currently, he is the consultant at the Somerset Neurological Rehabilitation Centre and is leading the expansion of NHS neurological rehabilitation services in Somerset. Dr Bonikowski has been a consultant to several independent inpatient providers including The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.
He founded and led the independent rehabilitation and case management provider, Kynixa, between 2001 and 2010 which delivered comprehensive clinical and vocational rehabilitation programmes to approximately 1200 people severely injured in accidents. In April 2014, Dr Bonikowski began accepting medico-legal referrals and now completes around 30 reports each year for people with brain, spinal cord and brachial plexus injuries arising from accidents and clinical negligence.
Ian Pearce, Director, NeuroProactive
When Ian Pearce’s father suffered a stroke, Ian, a former City banker, found himself on a completely unexpected journey. Ian witnessed first-hand some of the challenges faced by people as they attempt to recover from strokes through rehabilitation. Ian researched and arranged private therapy for his father to complement the NHS provision. However, he found the process much more difficult than expected and he was surprised by how the lack of coordination in rehabilitation reduced its effectiveness.
As his father started to recover, Ian decided that there had to be a better way, and so Neuro Proactive was born. Having introduced digital systems in the City, he set about to modernise neuro-rehabilitation using digital health solutions.
John Davis, Consulting Principal Lawyer at Slater + Gordon
Consultant Solicitor with Slater + Gordon representing people with serious injuries, in particular permanent life-changing brain and spinal cord injuries. John has represented clients with serious injuries, particularly those with life-changing neurological conditions for over 30 years, and he has considerable experience in the field of complex personal injury litigation.
Until 2016 John was the Regional Managing Partner at the Newcastle office of Irwin Mitchell and since then I has worked as a legal consultant, using his experience and expertise to help and support seriously injured people.
Catrin May, Co-Founder & Director of Breakthrough Case Management
Co founder, Owner & Director of Breakthrough Case management, Catrin May is a Registered General Nurse with extensive experience spanning 30 years in both private and NHS settings.
For the last 10 years Catrin has been working as a Brain & Spinal injury case manager providing rehabilitation solutions to clients following catastrophic injury. Working alongside academic and scientific partners, Breakthrough aims to push the boundaries of rehab provision with digital innovation, which is set to provide a raft of new resources to case managers in the near future.
NR Times and NRC Medical Experts Webinar Series
This webinar is the first in a series of of discussions with NR Times and NR Medical Experts.
NRC Medical Experts provide an extensive range of medico-legal reports, services and testimony for claimant and defendant solicitors, barristers and legal teams. Through their NRC Clinical Practice, Consultants in Rehabilitation Medicine oversee an individual’s rehabilitation and recovery journey, ensuring the better outcomes, joined up care and therapeutic intervention with better oversight for legal teams.