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NRC teams use Jumbulance to practice moving patients from City Hospital to brand new centre
A specialised converted coach normally used to enable accessible holidays has been deployed as part of practicing transporting patients to the first NHS National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) in the country.
The NRC, a 70-bed state-of-the-art specialist rehabilitation centre for NHS patients who have experienced a life-changing illness or injury, will be run and staffed by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) when it opens in early 2026.
The brand-new facility is co-located with the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate (SHRE) near Loughborough.
Earlier this autumn, teams from the current neuro-rehabilitation unit Linden Lodge on our City Hospital site trialled how they would transfer all the patients in just one day to the new NRC facility.
In order to move every patient from Linden Lodge to the NRC in one day, the teams will be using a combination of private ambulances and the ‘Jumbulance’ - an adapted coach which can transport multiple wheelchairs or stretchers, as well as patients who can use a traditional fixed seat.
The Jumbulance has a fully accessible lift for wheelchair users, privacy curtains, an accessible toilet and a small kitchen on board.
Dawn Harrison, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, led the trial run alongside Linden Lodge colleagues.
She said: “Our mock run of Day 1 of the NRC went really well and was reassuring for all the staff who have been preparing for the real thing.
“There were still a few minor things that we have adapted to do differently to make the real move from Linden Lodge to the NRC run even more smoothly, but it was satisfying to see our plans come to life and work in the way we had intended them to.
“We are so excited to be moving to the NRC as we know this will be a fantastic site which will forever change the way we provide rehabilitation for the better.”
More information about the NRC is available on the dedicated website: www.nationalrehabilitationcentre.nhs.uk