Hull hospital to get purpose built rehab unit to aid recovery of patients

• Video report by Emma Wilkinson

A purpose-built rehab unit at Castle Hill Hospital in Hull is set to open later this year.

The ward will have a gym, therapy room and make use of virtual reality in a bid to ensure that the hospital's rehabilitation is as good as its acute frontline care.

The unit will be the first of its kind in the Calendar region and clinicians at the hospital say that it will enhance their ability to help patients.

Andrea Murphy, the clinical lead physiotherapist at Castle Hill, said: "It will allow us to work more cohesively together and maybe do group activities.

"Because there is an outdoor area we can maybe get patients outside doing gardening courses or outdoor mobility. So it is an amazing opportunity."

Dr Abayomi Salawu, a consultant in rehabilitation medicine said that he hopes the unit will be a "new dawn" in rehabilitation services.

Keirnan Roberts, from Elloughton, was left with catastrophic brain injuries when he was knocked off his bike, he has been using the hospital's current rehab unit, but is excited about the new one opening.

Keirnan has had intense therapy to gain increased mobility in his right arm - he is now able to lift it over his head and create artwork.

His mother, Marie Roberts, said: "It was Hull Royal which saved his life but where you've got places with a good rehab set-up - and this was good before but it will be even better now...they give you back a life."