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Spinal Cord Injury
This page was last updated: March 10th, 2023
Safeguarding Services are the central point of contact for patients with a spinal cord injury. We receive the ‘Patient Care Passport for Spinal Cord Injuries’ and liaise with the relevant wards on behalf of the patient.
Patient Care Hospital Passport for Spinal Cord Injuries
If you have a spinal cord injury, please complete our Patient Care Passport for Spinal Cord Injuries or alternatively email: rch-tr.SGAdults@nhs.net to request a passport. This passport will alert staff that you have a spinal cord injury and help support any additional clinical needs you may have.
Clinical Resources
Moving and Handling
- (Video) Safe Moving and Handling of Spinal Injury Patients. Link opens in a new tab.
- Moving and Handling Patients with Actual or Suspected Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI). Link opens in a new tab.
- Positioning in bed – Pelvic twist
- Positioning of a twist pillow in a non-acute patient
- Positioning of pillows for pressure relief – 30 degree tilt (or Log–roll)
- Mobilising times following a change of cushion (Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust)
- Re-mobilising after a period of bedrest (Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust)
- Re-mobilising onto a healed pressure ulcer (Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust)
- The initial mobilisation of a SCI patient from the acute stage (Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust)
- Spinal Cord Injury Information Sheet 1 – Manual Handling and Tissue Viability
Information Sheets
Contact Information for Digital Rectal Evacuation of Faeces (DRE)
The following staff are competent to perform or give advice and should be contacted for help and support for any patient who requires DRE:
Royal Cornwall and St Michael’s Hospitals
- For Surgical Care Practitioners please contact Switchboard on 01872 250000
- For Marie Therese House please contact 01736 758 879
- For staff training on DRE please contact the Learning and Development department on 01872 256 489
Other Resources
Wheelchair Service
The Wheelchair Service supports adults and children who require a standard or specialist wheelchair, living in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly. They assess people with long term mobility needs who require a wheelchair for longer than a period of 6 months. All equipment is provided on a long term loan basis for as long as your clinical need requires it. If you require a wheelchair, a GP or other health professional involved in your care can make a referral.
Spinal Patient Innovation Network Experience Service Group
Patients and professionals working together to develop practice for Spinal Cord Injury patients.
If you are a member of staff and would like to be part of this Group, please email Safeguarding Services: rch-tr.SGAdults@nhs.net
Useful Links
- The Royal Marsden Manual: Procedure Guidelines – Manual Evacuation of Faeces (Sign in with an OpenAthens account)
- Guidelines for Management of Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction in Individuals with Central Neurological Conditions
- British Association of Spinal Cord Injury Specialists
- Spinal Injury Association (SIA).
- For contact details of the Support Network Officer for the South West of England and to book a support session please click here
- For Our counselling service please click here. This is a free service available to SIA members.
- Personal assistants continuing to support people during a hospital admission
