Rehab centre reopens to free up hospital beds

Spinneyfields Specialist Care Centre in Rushden will be used for patients from two hospitals

A rehabilitation centre has been reopened by a hospital trust for patients who need extra support before they return home.

Spinneyfields Specialist Care Centre, in Rushden, will be used by Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital.

The centre was closed at the beginning of 2023 after it was underused.

However, Jane Daniel, head of nursing for medicine at University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN), said the reopened facility would provide a "good step-down environment" for patients.

Ms Daniel said the centre would provide "a homely environment offering 31 single rooms with en-suite facilities".

"There is a communal lounge and dining area designed to allow patients the option to socialise with others," she said.

"Spinneyfields will provide a good step-down environment and we are pleased to be able to open and run it for the benefit of our patients and their families."

She said the dedicated therapy team would be able to help patients with mobility, functional skills and confidence "in preparation for patients waiting for packages of care, rehabilitation beds or long-term care facility beds".

Kettering General Hospital's chief operating officer, Fay Gordon said: "There is a lot of pressure on hospital beds and having extra beds available in the community for those patients who no longer need hospital-based care will help us to create bed capacity on the main hospital site for those patients who need more acute care."

The facility has a fully-equipped physiotherapy room