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NHS National Rehabilitation Centre Names Survivor Ambassadors Ahead of Year-End Opening

Survivor ambassadors will offer peer support to patients to strengthen recovery pathways at a national NHS hub.

Overview

  • Leah Washington-Pugh, who lost her leg in the 2015 Alton Towers Smiler crash, has pledged to support amputees as a patient ambassador.
  • The NRC at Stanford Hall Estate in Nottinghamshire will open by the end of 2025 with 70 beds and £105m in funding.
  • Six volunteer ambassadors have been enlisted to provide lived-experience guidance to people recovering from serious injuries and illnesses.
  • Fellow ambassador Luke Pickering was paralysed by Guillain-Barré in 2023, spent 94 days in hospital, regained the ability to walk, and has returned to work.
  • Ambassadors highlight intensive early physiotherapy and new technology as reasons the centre could be a “massive game-changer” for rehabilitation.