Clinical standards for specialist community rehabilitation services in the UK

To develop a set of clinical standards for specialist community rehabilitation services in the UK and to undertake a preliminary survey of consultants who provide those services.

The proposed set of standards was adapted from the previously published standards for inpatient services, by a working party of the British Society for Rehabilitation Medicine (BSRM). Consensus was then achieved by an iterative consultation process in five rounds. A postal survey was conducted on behalf of the BSRM amongst its consultant members providing community rehabilitation services in the UK, who were asked to assess their services in relation to these standards, and to comment on the standards themselves, their usefulness and applicability.

Fifty consultants who ran specialist community rehabilitation services agreed to participate, of whom 29 (58%) actually responded. Overall, the standards appeared to be acceptable to most, and mainly struck the right level, being attained by the majority of services. Twenty-five (89%) felt the standards were helpful and 26 (93%) felt that they covered the main aspects of specialist community rehabilitation services: 23 (79%) found them at least partially applicable to their own service.

Proposed clinical standards have been developed for specialist community rehabilitation services in the UK. It is likely that they will require further refinement with time, and modification is required to adapt them to different subspecialities and settings.