Document resource
Patrick Cookson a physiotherapist working within North Bristol’s neuropsychiatry department at the Rosa Burden Centre. He qualified in 2008 from UWE Bristol and have worked in various areas of physiotherapy at different hospitals across the South West. He started working at the Rosa Burden Centre in 2017 on a part- time basis while also holding a rotational post within neurosciences. During this time, he took part in thePhysio4FMD trial run by Glenn Nielsen. Since January 2024, he moved to a full- time post at the Rosa Burden Centre and now work almost exclusively with patients with Functional Neurological Disorder.Alex Reuben, qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2004 and has specialised in neurosciences for 15 years. In 2019, she moved to a permanent position at the Rosa Burden Centre in Bristol and was appointed as Lead OT for Neuropsychiatry. Alex has worked to develop this role, with significant emphasis on service development, growing staff numbers, and raising the profile of the FND inpatient programme, outpatient clinics and education groups. Alex recently attended the International Conference of Functional Neurological Disorders in Verona and presented a poster on her work and experience of group education in FND. Alex is currently working towards mindfulness teacher accreditation and plans to bring these skills to the FND inpatient programme in the future.The Rosa Burden Centre, since its foundation over 90 years ago, has been a centre for neurosciences in the South-West of England. It has transitioned through various forms and locations, and today stands as the tertiary centre for neuropsychiatry in the region. Among other strands to the service, it is also one of the few centres in the country to provide a specialised elective inpatient admission for people with Functional Neurological Disorder.FND presents an array of different symptoms with an often complex and multifaceted aetiology, requiring a holistic, multidisciplinary approach for effective management. In this talk, we will provide an overview of our inpatient FND programme, that includes input from a team consisting of neuropsychiatrists, occupational therapists, nurses, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists.We will describe in brief the recent evolution of the programme, discussing the collaborative efforts that have shaped our current approach. Our presentation will outline the general framework of the inpatient programme, including the referral criteria, programme structure and a multi-disciplinary symptom model that integrates physical, psychological, social and cognitive components.Holistic strategies and interventions, tailored to the individual needs of patients, will be broadly discussed, alongside the outcome measures we currently use to assess and treat patients, while measuring progress and efficacy.Finally, we will look forward to potential future developments and changes within the programme aimed at improving patient care, experience and outcomes.