Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker Fae Dromgool

Last Monday Oswestry Rotary Club had a very interesting speaker, Fae Dromgool, manager at Transhouse in Oswestry.  Fittingly she was introduced by Professor Wagih El Masri, since it was while he was head of the Spinal Injuries Unit at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital that Transhouse was set up, back in 1996.

Transhouse (or to give it its full title Transitional Housing) exists to help people with spinal cord injuries to 'move on' from hospital when they no longer require nursing care but are not ready to go home.  Originally there were 2 bungalows but more have been acquired in the past few years to serve North Wales, South Mersey, Mid-Wales, Cheshire and the West Midlands (a catchment area of 10 million people).  Every 8 hours in the UK someone is given the life-changing news that they will never walk again and some 380 a year pass through Transhouse's doors, of whom 100 are acute cases.

The bungalows are fully wheelchair accessible but it is NOT a clinical environment, rather a safe space where people can learn how to manage everyday tasks like cooking and looking after themselves, in other words a home.  If Transhouse did not exist these people would either be taking a hospital bed unnecessarily or in a nursing home, which for young people is just not appropriate.

Transhouse saves the NHS money, because a hospital bed for a spinal cord injured patient costs £450 a day versus £450 A WEEK in Transhouse.  The cost is covered partly by housing benefit contributions from the service users and partly by charitable fundraising and donations.  The service users can be in one of the adapted bungalows for 3 weeks or as much as 2 years, depending on their needs.  As Fae says: "the physical environment which surrounds people can facilitate their improvement and there is a great need for this service.  Professor El Masri immediately saw the lack of suitable accommodation when he took over from Dr Barry Francis-Jones (his predecessor) and so Transhouse came into being - it would not exist without him."

In the past most of the clientele were in their 20s and 30s, (average age 28), with their spinal cord injuries typically being caused by road traffic accidents; now with advances in vehicle safety e.g. airbags, the age profile has shifted and most are aged between 60-80 (average 62) and their injuries are mainly as the result of a fall.

When there are spare beds available Transhouse will take other kinds of people who cannot easily get around and take care of themselves such as stroke victims, diabetic amputees and the morbidly obese.

Fae ended her very interesting talk by extending an invitation to anyone who is interested in seeing a Transhouse bungalow for themselves to get in touch with her to arrange a visit.

Jayne Middleton