Mayor Howard Mundin with Dr Aneetha Skinner FRCP, Clinical Lead of the SRC, Dr Khalid Ali and the SRC Team at the Princess Royal Hospital.

Haywards Heath Town Mayor, Cllr Howard Mundin, has chosen the Sussex Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) at the Princess Royal Hospital as his charity for his term of office. The Town Mayor made the announcement while attending a talk by Dr Khalid Ali, Senior Lecturer in Geriatrics and Stroke Medicine at BSMS, along with members of the multidisciplinary team from Sussex Rehabilitation Centre, hospital doctors and allied healthcare professionals at the annual celebration for World Stroke Day on Friday 29 October 2021.

Dr Ali led the event with his talk ‘Upper Limb Recovery after Stroke: Clinical Practice and Research Update’, which focused on the benefits of empowering stroke survivors to embrace self-management, and for their families and friends to support their recovery journey. The lecture discussed the established evidence of patient-led interventions such as repetitive-task training, mirror therapy, mental practice and action observation in improving upper limb recovery.

Speaking about choosing the rehabilitation centre as his chosen charity, Cllr Mundin said: “After a stroke, rehabilitation programmes are critical in helping patients regain lost skills and become independent again and we are so fortunate in Haywards Heath to have a renowned centre for stroke rehabilitation right on our doorsteps at the Princess Royal Hospital.

“Evidence shows that people with a suspected stroke get the best outcomes when they are admitted to a hospital with a highly specialist and experienced team of stroke experts and having worked at the Princess Royal Hospital for almost 20 years, I am delighted that I will be able to support the Sussex Rehabilitation Centre as my chosen charity. Fundraising has already begun and we intend to put the money towards a fully accessible therapy garden at the centre which therapists can use to enhance the treatment, mood and wellbeing of their patients.”

The audience also included Dr Varadarajan Kalidasan, Clinical Advisor in Integrated Education and Inclusion, UH Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. He added: “It is easy to forget the impact stroke has on people and their families. It was good to hear about all the efforts that are in place to rehabilitate stroke patients and to see how so many have got over this adversity and have gone back to leading very useful lives. As always, Khalid brought the human side of clinical care to the fore and highlighted the important role the multidisciplinary team plays to support patients and families. 

The talk was a continuation of the annual celebration of the World Stroke Day that Dr Ali has led in Haywards Heath since 2015, providing a platform for stroke survivors and their families to exchange knowledge and support opportunities with hospital and community health and social care providers.