History
The Unit was developed to provide specialised care for patients with spinal cord injury from throughout Scotland. It replaced services at Edenhall Hospital, Musselburgh and Philipshill Hospital, East Kilbride.
Approval was granted by the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1988 and construction began two years later on 17 September 1990. The first patients were admitted on 29th September 1992 and the Unit was formally opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 14th December 1992.
Background
The modern care of spinal patients requires ready access to diagnostic and investigative techniques such as CT scan, MRI scan (including a research Siemens 7T MRI scanner) and neurophysiological assessments, together with on site availability of specialists in neurosurgery and neuroanaesthesia, orthopaedic surgery, general surgery and urological surgery. The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital provides all essential services on campus and the National Spinal Injuries Unit is linked by corridor to the Institute of Neurological Sciences and the main hospital.
Remit
Spinal cord injuries (SCI), whether from traumatic or non traumatic causes, are life changing. Highly specialised, multidisciplinary care in a specialist spinal cord injury centre, followed by comprehensive rehabilitation reduces complications, optimises treatment and long term outcomes and results in a significant life expectancy for the majority of this population.
Between 1994 and 2013, incidence in Scotland increased from 13.3 per million to 17 per million, this trend is replicated internationally. An increasingly elderly population has led to a growing number of falls resulting in a SCI. The demand for the service is therefore likely to increase as the population of Scotland ages.
Service
The Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde manages the acute injury and lifetime care of all patients with a traumatic spinal cord injury to maximise function and to prevent the complications of paralysis. This includes people with traumatic spinal cord injury and people suffering from an acute non traumatic injury to the spinal cord (for example spinal abscess or surgical injury) where it is identified that there are clinical and social benefits of intensive rehabilitation. The service was nationally designated in 1992.