Olympic rower opens new rehabilitation unit
British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell has opened the new Regional Rehabilitation Unit (RRU) at MOD St Athan, South Wales.
The new Regional Rehabilitation Unit at MOD St Athan, South Wales [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]
This new facility is able to provide co-ordinated clinical management to a tri-Service population, and offer clinical services including assessment, outpatient and residential physiotherapy, and exercise-based rehabilitation.
Following a short opening ceremony James Cracknell joined Chief of Staff (Health), Air Vice-Marshal Chris Morris, for a tour of the facility which included taking part in some of the rehabilitation activities.
RRUs are part of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Programme (DMRP) which is part of the overall defence strategy to reduce the number of Service personnel who are unfit for operational deployment and to treat those injured on operations.
The aim of the DMRP is to return these Service personnel to operational levels of fitness as soon as possible - the ‘fitter quicker’ principle. Where this is not achievable, the aim is to attain the maximum level of physical, psychological and social health.