A partnership between Solihull Hospital and a leisure centre in the town is set to prove beneficial to patients with neurological conditions as well as reducing pressures on the hospital.
Solihull Hospital, part of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, has teamed up with Solihull Council to put on therapy classes for patients with conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis at the popular Tudor Grange Leisure Centre in Blossomfield Road.
The collaboration will give patients access to a better social environment and facilities at Tudor Grange, whilst also helping to reduce waiting lists at the hospital.
Marie Adams, senior neurology physiotherapist at Solihull Hospital, said: “We are delighted to be working with the team at Tudor Grange Leisure Centre and grateful that they are hosting these classes which will produce numerous benefits for our patients.
“The exercises in the classes were developed collaboratively between the teams at Solihull Hospital, Solihull Council and Tudor Grange but also with the patients to ensure they are tailored to their needs.
“For the first couple of weeks during the transition we conducted the classes while the exercise facilitators from Tudor Grange observed but now they have taken over and it is proving to be a great success and we have received plenty of positive feedback. I am very proud of my team’s continued hard work and shared vision to ensure sustainable services for neurological long term conditions for the future.”
Councillor Ken Meeson, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing at Solihull Council, said: “The neurology team at Solihull Hospital enlisted our help to develop a community-based alternative for their MS and Parkinson’s specific exercise classes. With a history of successfully delivering specialist exercise classes for respiratory patients as a follow on from hospital pulmonary rehab, the transition of MS and Parkinson’s classes into Tudor Grange Leisure Centre was deemed to be the best option.
“The Council’s Solihull Active team worked closely with our service delivery partner Parkwood Community Leisure and the neurology therapy team, to ensure the right exercise service for supporting people with MS and Parkinson’s disease. These classes have been a huge success and provide a fantastic opportunity for local people to benefit from being regularly active.”
