Maureen Jenkinson is 72 years old and a retired A&E nurse. A diabetic with a number of other serious health conditions, Maureen became an Active Recovery patient after a 12 week stay in hospital following a leg amputation as a result of her diabetes

Carol Carr, who works as a community nurse in the ‘Active Recovery’ team, went to see Maureen in the hospital when she was deemed to be medically well before her discharge and arranged for her to go to a facility called Marbury House as a place where she could undergo rehab out of hospital before returning home.

Maureen said: “If I’d been sent straight home from hospital then I think things would have been very different, and I don’t think I would have been as independent as I am now. My stay as an Active Recovery patient gave me valuable time to get used to doing things for myself – something that doesn’t really happen as a hospital patient.

“Active Recovery is a brilliant service for anyone like me who needs support following an amputation as they give you a goal to work towards – for me, that was being discharged from the service and regaining my independence and confidence. Because all the staff that looked after me worked together for the Active Recovery team, they all shared the same notes and I didn’t need to tell my story over and over again to health or social care professionals.”

Liz Baker is a Stockport social worker who now works alongside other health professionals in addition to social care colleagues thanks to the Active Recovery. Liz said: “We were all involved in Maureen`s care after our colleague went to see her in the hospital before her discharge. Initially we thought she might not be suitable for Active Recovery as she had a number of complex conditions, but she was a real fighter and was very clear that she wanted to get home and would do whatever it took for that to happen.

“This meant that all of us - social care, nursing, therapy and support services were able to work together to look after Maureen during her rehab and put in place what she needed in terms of housing, adaptations, personal care and healthcare.

“We all work together in the same building now. This has real benefits for us, and ultimately the people we look after. If I came back to the office after a visit to Maureen and was worried about a therapy issue, I was able to talk to Sally, one our therapists for advice. Likewise if one of them thought there was a social care issue, they`d talk to me and we could solve any problems together.

“Now we are truly joined up and we`re a really supportive team - we all work towards the same values and goals and our focus is on wrapping care around the people we look after and getting them back home from the hospital, with the care and support they need.”

 This article first appeared in the Stockport Review council newsletter