Members of our Leeds Personal Injury team attended the 35th annual Guttmann conference in Sheffield on 6 July. The Guttmann conference is a prestigious international conference in spinal injury care with a different key theme each year. This year the theme was “Looking Ahead – the Future of Spinal Cord Injury”.
The event was hosted by The Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre, Sheffield and took place at Sheffield Hallam University.
There were a number of talks throughout the day from those who treat and care for people with spinal cord injuries. Of particular interest was a talk from keynote speaker Professor Elizabeth Bradbury (King’s College London) about the work her team is carrying out in the area of spinal cord regeneration. As the spinal cord does not spontaneously regenerate following injury, Professor Bradbury’s lab has been heavily involved in finding ways to encourage repair. She used video footage to demonstrate a number of different techniques being trialled on rats to repair an injured spinal cord. There has been some widely reported success with these studies.
Other presentation topics included strategies for managing and reducing pressure ulcers, restoration of grasp in tetraplegic patients using the “alphabet” procedure (which involves seven operations in one), reported outcomes in spinal cord injury patients following ileocystoplasty, and an update from the Spinal Cord Injuries Working Group. The main points from this update, (given by Dr Fiona Barr), were that there are not enough places on spinal units to meet demand and the service must become more efficient, putting patients and their needs at the centre.
The conference was an excellent opportunity for the Stewarts lawyers who attended to find out about the latest developments in spinal injury treatment and care, and to remain abreast of the issues facing clients with spinal cord injuries and the practical implications for them.
As well as listening to talks on some fascinating subjects, there was an opportunity to speak with a number of delegates from various organisations including Back Up, STEPS Rehabilitation and The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital, and several equipment providers who specialise in devising and delivering solutions for those with spinal cord injuries.
Stewarts were represented at the conference by: Ben Townsend, Warren Maxwell, Lucy Mills, Rebecca Hill and Chris Smith.
You can find further information regarding our expertise, experience and team on our Personal Injury pages.
If you require assistance from our team, please contact us or alternatively request a call back from one of our lawyers by submitting this form.
Life beyond injury
We have teamed up with some clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries to tell their stories of life beyond injury. Please visit our Life Beyond Injury webpage to see their stories.
We hope that by sharing these stories, newly injured people can see that with the right support they too can overcome adversity to lead full and active lives.
Please feel free to share our films. You can join in the conversation and share your stories of overcoming adversity to lead a fulfilling life beyond injury:
On Twitter, using the hashtag #lifebeyondinjury.
Or on Facebook, using the same #lifebeyondinjury hashtag.
Media contact: Lydia Buckingham, Senior Marketing Executive, +44 (0) 20 7822 8134, lbuckingham@stewartslaw.com
