Author, philanthropist and burns survivor Katie Piper opens her ‘Katie Piper Foundation Rehabilitation Centre’ to the press this week. [31st July 2019].
The Liverpool-based centre is the very first of its kind in the UK, and the British media will be given a tour of the facilities and services with a chance to meet Katie, staff and patients.
Katie Piper, through her charity The Katie Piper Foundation, has been working for years behind the scenes to make this facility a reality for those with burns and scars in the UK. Based at Fairfield Independent Hospital in, St Helens Merseyside, the Centre aims to treat twenty patients in the first 12 months of opening. Offering patients access to adapted on-site bungalow accommodation, the Centre quietly opened its doors in January 2019, welcoming patients to help develop the service, and now it officially launches.
This Centre and pioneering programme really is the first of its kind in the UK – there are similar facilities in Europe and now it’s time for the UK to have its own. For nearly 10 years, The Katie Piper Foundation have provided a vital service and given help to thousands of burns survivors. The Fairfield Independent Hospital have over 45 years’ experience running a high-quality health facility with a renowned physiotherapy team and tranquil grounds, which makes it the perfect partnership, setting and joining of expertise.
Once the fantastic work of the NHS Burns Service is done, The Katie Piper Foundation Rehabilitation Centre becomes a sanctuary for a patient’s next steps. Care will range from scar management therapy techniques and unrivalled physiotherapy treatment, to mental health support for those who are often hard-hit by their burns trauma. This specialist team enable huge leaps in the path of recovery, using their longstanding skills as well as utilising new cutting-edge equipment that is rarely available for survivors of burns.
The Katie Piper Foundation Rehabilitation Centre aimsto deliver over 3,000 hours of direct care, treatment and activities in the first 12 months of opening. Katie and the team look forward to sharing what will be remarkable stories of progress and positivity of those whose lives will have changed course, thanks to their commitment to rehabilitation at The Centre.
Katie comments, ‘The Rehabilitation Centre has been a goal of mine and The Katie Piper Foundation’s since the very start. Developing this service with burns patients at its heart has been a rewarding and challenging process, but we’re finally at the finish line and we’re now ready to welcome patients. It’s a very big moment for myself, the team and the patients – it’s also a huge step forward for us as a charity. This charity is powered by the generosity of people and companies, without any government funding, so this is a huge milestone for me and everyone who has supported it. This year is the charity’s tenth anniversary which is a huge milestone, so it really does make this announcement that extra bit special!’
Professor Kayvan Shokrollahi, Consultant Burns and Plastic Surgeon and Medical Director of The Katie Piper Foundation said, ‘I see people every day with a wide range of injuries including house fires to occupational injuries, accidents and sometimes assaults – injuries that can happen to anyone. Our patients have sustained terrible injuries and have survived and reached the point of discharge from hospital, thanks to the fantastic care they have received in the NHS in the relatively small number of burns units in the UK.
After discharge, burns survivors can now come to stay on site at this new and innovative rehabilitation centre based at Fairfield Independent Hospital to help rebuild their lives.’
If you are an adult who has burns or scars from an injury, please make an enquiry about the rehabilitation service using the contact form at www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/contact/ or call the Charity Services Team on 07496 827 266.
The Katie Piper Foundation was set up in 2009 following the 2008 acid attack on Katie Piper.
Katie Piper set up The Katie Piper Foundation to help people with burns and scars to reconnect with their lives and their communities – the charity’s vision is a world where scars do not limit a person’s function, social inclusion or sense of well-being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EbZxQ3ew5c&feature=youtu.be
The Katie Piper Foundation has now helped thousands of burns survivors across the UK.
The Foundation’s aims are to improve outcomes for burns survivors, deliver – directly or indirectly – intensive, comprehensive burns rehabilitation (post-acute care discharge) in the UK, support burns survivors throughout their recovery, progress a deep understanding of the context in which the Foundation acts (the burns care world) and of the key stakeholders and develop key relationships, collaborations associations and partnerships.
Thousands of medical professionals have learned from Katie’s experience and the other burns patients empowered by her, through presentations delivered at conferences such as The Annual British Burn Association, Wounds UK Conference and visits to hospitals across the country. The Katie Piper Foundation also sponsor Scar Academy Conferences.
Over 4,000 people experiencing scarring have received support thanks to Katie’s drive and mission. Via her Foundation, Katie has given thousands of people with burns and scars a community – this community of supporters, fundraisers and volunteers has been invaluable to all within it.
The Katie Piper Foundation Rehabilitation Centre opened in January 2019 – in the same year as the charities tenth anniversary. June 2019 saw the official opening to the media, 5 months after they welcomed their first patient.
Now over 1,000 hours of expert scar management therapy, psycho-social support, laser treatments and activities such as yoga and swimming have been delivered in the development phase of the Rehabilitation Centre.
The Katie Piper Rehabilitation Centre has a specialized team of ten people, including physiotherapists, psycho-social specialists and top burns and plastic surgeon.
