Helen Neale

Helen has experience both in children’s and transitional cases, often working with cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and neurological conditions in clients from their late teens/early 20s into adulthood.  Helen’s post requires her to have a sound knowledge of child development, in order to be able to clearly differentiate between expected age-related development, and condition related difficulties.

Much of Helen’s caseload suffer from neurological impairments either as a result of a traumatic event or through acquired brain injury (Stroke, MS, MND, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s etc).  This commonly results in associated cognitive deficits and mental health complications.  She has presented at Vulnerable Adult Panels for approval and funding and has developed pathways for discharge to long term residential and nursing care where required.

Many of Helen’s clients also have medical needs following internal injuries and therefore require health related equipment, such as catheters, stoma and PEG feed systems.  These require ongoing management in the community which Helen co-ordinates.  Helen also provides support to clients at varying stages of kidney failure, as well as those who are ventilated or require oxygen due to respiratory conditions.

As Helen works with clients who have chronic and lifelong conditions, she is skilled at managing their changing needs over a long period of time.  This will sometimes ultimately conclude with her supporting the client and their family with end of life/palliative care.

Helen completes full functional assessments of clients within their home and local community.  She assesses for and provides standard and specialist equipment to maintain and/or compensate for loss of independence/safety.  She considers provision of assistive technology to monitor environments for clients with vulnerabilities such as cognitive impairment, dementia and epilepsy is included within this.  Helen also considers provision of moving and handling equipment and training for agency staff and informal carers. She assesses the suitability of a client’s property and where this is not considered to be suitable Helen completes a Housing Needs Report and makes recommendations for a new property or minor or major adaptations to the existing property.

Helen also reviews the appropriateness of care packages for clients needing continuing care at home.  This involves double handed care reviews post discharge from acute hospital settings, setting up new simple and complex high-level care packages (including 24-hour care support), adjusting existing care packages and reviewing all single and double handed care plans including applications for direct payment funding.

In her current role Helen often works with young adults and supports them with the transition between paediatric and adult services.  Prior to this, she worked in a paediatric service with children up to the age of 18 with learning/behavioural difficulties, acquired or congenital physical difficulties.  Helen completed functional assessments with children and their families within their own homes and assessed for and provided similar equipment and adaptations as within adult services, with the addition of wheelchair assessments.  She has former supporting knowledge of this from a 5-year role as a qualified childcare practitioner prior to training as an OT.