Floyd Unit Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Doctor Morcos, Doctor Walton, Floyd Unit Manager Rosemary Law, Deputy Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Billy Sheerin and former patients Mark Porter and Janet Creamer celebrate the 30th Anniversary

The Floyd Unit, based at Birch Hill Hospital in Rochdale, is celebrating providing 30 years of neuro-rehabilitation to patients from Rochdale and across Greater Manchester.

The 18-bedded unit opened in October 1988 and provides a comprehensive rehabilitation service to male and female adults from the age of sixteen who have a neurological disability, which may have occurred as a result of an injury or progressive diseases. Conditions and injuries treated by the unit include acquired brain injury, spinal cord injuries, Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis. The unit currently treats up to 63 patients a year depending on the individual needs of the patient.  

At the celebration, guests including the Deputy Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Billy Sheerin, were able to find out more about the work of the unit by taking tours and observing therapy sessions. They also heard from, Dr Krystyna Walton, the first consultant to work on the unit who told guests about the history of the unit before former service users, Mark Porter and Janet Creamer talked about their time as patients on the unit and how they are thankful for the care they received. 

Current consultant in neurorehabilitation, Doctor Fayez Morcos closed the speeches by speaking about the progress that has been made and looking to the future.

Doctor Morcos commented: “It’s really exciting to be celebrating 30 years of providing care at the Floyd Unit. We as a service are really proud of the team spirit and the relationships we build with service users during their treatment. We’ve made great progress over that last 30 years and we are continually looking to the future and how we can provide the best care for patients needing neuro-rehabilitation across Greater Manchester.”

The Floyd Unit is part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group which brings together five hospitals, 2000 beds, specialist and acute services, a range of associated community services, and over 17,000 staff across Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Alliance is one of the largest NHS organisations in the country with an operating budget of £1.3bn, serving 1m people. The five hospitals operated by the Group are, Salford Royal, The Royal Oldham, Fairfield General in Bury, Rochdale Infirmary and North Manchester General.

The Floyd Unit works closely with patients and support groups including the Greater Manchester Neuro Alliance to improve the service and experiences for patients.

Patient Case Study

In 1995 Mark Porter from Failsworth, was involved in a mountain bike accident resulting in a frontal brain injury. Initially his mum Janice was told to expect the worst but after a month in hospital Mark was transferred to the Floyd Unit for neuro-rehabilitation as he was unable to walk, talk or do anything for himself. 

Mark underwent intensive physiotherapy, speech and language therapy as well as working with Occupational Therapists. Following five months of care, Mark had learnt how to walk and had dramatically improved and was discharged from the unit. 

50-year-old Mark now works on the unit as an activities co-ordinator helping current patients by arranging activities such as playing cards and dominoes as well as organising quizzes. 

Mark commented: “The Floyd Unit has played such an important role in my life and during my time as a patient the staff did all that they could to help me to get back on my feet and learn to talk again.  Working on the unit that helped me so much is a great way for me to be able to give something back plus having been a patient I can relate to what current patients are going through and help them through sharing my experience.”