SYNAPSE November 2001 - acpin

REGIONAL REPORTS
Incomplete
sp na
nures
This is a one day
course including
the ACPIN AGM
on Saturday
9th March 2002 at the Hilton Hotel in Bristol.
The theme of the conference is the management of
incomplete spinal injury. It will include lectures on the
secondary changes following SCI and the management
of spasm. The role of splinting and orthotics,
the recent advances in FES and treadmill training,
and the medical management of these patients will all
be addressed. Recognised national speakers will be
invited to share their knowledge and research with
us.
The conference price of £60 for ACPIN members
and £75 for non-members includes all lectures, refreshments
and lunch.
Further information will be available through
Frontline or via the ACPIN website (www.acpin.net)
in January.
A C P I N S T U D Y D A Y & A G M
NEUROPHYSIOTHERAPY
& INCOMPLETE SPINAL INJURIES
Regional reports
■EAST ANGLIA
Louise Dunthorne
Regional Representative
East Anglia has enjoyed having a full
committee this year, and we organised
our usual day courses rather
than more frequent evening sessions
during 2001. This proves more
satisfactory, with better attendance
and some good feedback from
members.
In March we held our AGM and
Martin Watson guided us through
ways to bring research into every
day clinical practice.
In May Wendy Hendrie ran an excellent
study morning, updating us
on the current management of
Multiple Sclerosis including the use
of Botulinum Toxin and insight into
how much compliance there is with
prescribed exercises!
Other planned events include a
study afternoon exploring ‘SMART’
which is an assessment tool used at
The Royal Hospital for
Neurodisability, Putney for investigating
Persistent Vegatative State.
Also in early November Martine
Naidler will be running a study day
on Neuroplasticity at Ipswich
Hospital, which is bound to get our
brains working!
Membership stands at around 40,
and we always welcome new members,
or correspondence from
existing members about topics they
would like to see covered by the
study days.
Do contact any of the committee
members with any ideas and don’t
forget to renew your membership at
the end of the year!!
■KENT
Janice Champion
Regional Representative
Last year KENT region held an
evening lecture in November at the
William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
The subject was ‘Muscle Imbalance
in the Upper Quadrant’ by Stuart
Hide MCSP and was very well attended.
An opening theoretical
session was followed by practical
time looking at each other which
was enjoyed by all.
We held our AGM in March at
Maidstone Hospital where Gay Slater
a member of ACPIRT gave a lecture
and practical demonstration of reflexology.
Our aims for the forthcoming
year are to improve the networking
of the ‘neurophysios’ in the region
and to support the professional
development of our members by
providing informative and thought
provoking meetings and study days.
We are looking for interested members
to join the Committee and help
us to plan future meetings.
This years programme is still in
the planning stage, however we
hope to hold a day course on FES
and also on MS.
■LONDON
Anne McDonnell
Regional Representative
London ACPIN currently has 190
members, and attendance has been
good for the majority of the lectures.
Lectures this year have included:
Acute stroke management; management
of Conversion disorders;
Current trends in the management of
Multiple Sclerosis; Pilates; Contracture
management and ‘Why arms
don’t recover after stroke’. We have
had one study morning, which generated
some very good discussions, on
‘Exercise in Neurology’, with speakers
discussing their research, which attracted
60 members.
Members will receive a programme
for 2002, on renewal of
their ACPIN membership in January.
If you have any suggestions for lectures/courses,
please contact any
member of the London committee.
Provisional dates for 2002 are:
• 15.01.02 Different Strokes Royal
Free Hospital
• 12.02.02 TBA and held at St
Thomas’ Hospital
• 12.03.02 Martine Nadler to speak
at the National Hospital for
Neurology and Neurosurgery.
■MANCHESTER
Louise Rogerson
Regional Representative
This year has been another successful
year for Manchester ACPIN. The AGM
was held in March, and the committee
is now complete with all posts
filled for the first time in a few years.
The lecture programme has included
Parkinson’s disease and
medication, splinting in neurology,
and a neurophysiology update. We
have had good attendance at virtually
all the lectures so far, and we
would like to take this opportunity
to thank all the speakers. We have
introduced evaluation forms at the
lectures, and the feedback has been
very good. The evaluation forms have
been comprehensively completed by
all those attending the lecture including
some excellent suggestions
for next years programme, thank you.
As yet the programme for next year is
only in its earliest forms, but we will
have met in October to put together
a first draft.
We have also introduced the use
of reflective learning prompt sheets
printed on the back of the lecture
fliers. It is hoped that these will help
members to make the most of the
lectures, and will provide evidence
for continued professional development
diaries.
One disappointment for this year
was the lack of interest in the critical
evaluation course causing it to be
cancelled. Hopefully we will be able
to arrange another course in the coming
year on a more popular subject!
In the latter part of the year we
have had a patient demonstration
(October), and an open forum on
manual handling (November).
■MERSEYSIDE
Elizabeth Self
Regional Representative
The committee would like to thank
all our members and speakers during
the initial months of 2001 for
their support and extend our thanks
once more to Sharon Williams.
We have a healthy and active
committee of 11 and our membership
is 45. Towards the latter half of
last year our numbers attending the
lectures became very low. As a
committee we assembled a questionnaire.
Variety of reasons for
poor attendance:
• Difficulty with child care
• Time of Lectures
• Location
• Tiring after a busy day
• Travel
In light of these results we wrote
to therapy managers to consider releasing
some staff for half-day study
days. Feedback was positive and we
are aiming to provide three half day
study days and three evening lectures
each year with a variety of
times and locations.
The highlight of this year’s program
was sensory rehabilitation
presented by Claire Fraser. Other
lectures included Strapping techniques
and Update in Rheumatology.
Forthcoming events include:
• October Workshop with Sharon
Williams
• November Incontinence
• January Parkinson’s study half day
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