Rehabilitation
At the newly-opened Willow Therapy Unit in Norwich, occupational therapists are leading a reablement-first approach that’ s transforming recovery. Through personalised care, meaningful activity and a focus on independence, patients are rebuilding their lives – often in just two weeks.
Rehabilitation
Feature
Rethinking rehab
At the newly-opened Willow Therapy Unit in Norwich, occupational therapists are leading a reablement-first approach that’ s transforming recovery. Through personalised care, meaningful activity and a focus on independence, patients are rebuilding their lives – often in just two weeks.
O
n 13 March 2025, the Willow Therapy Unit opened in Norwich, after Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust was awarded £ 19.3 million in funding from the Department of Health and Social Care to build a 48-bed inpatient unit.
The unit is staffed by nurses, therapists, assistant practitioners and clinical support workers, and was designed with patient rehabilitation at its core.
There is a large multi-purpose day / dining room, incorporating state-of the-art tools, such as NIRVANA and SMART table, to enhance patient reablement. The patient areas are spacious and airy, with several accessible outdoor spaces, including a wildflower garden that patients are actively encouraged to access.
There are 10 occupational therapists, at bands five, six and seven, and alongside their physiotherapy and assistant practitioner colleagues, these therapists provide a sevenday-a-week service, from 7am to 7.30pm. This enables patients to make more progress in less time; indeed, the target length of stay at the Willow Therapy Unit is just 14 days.
The patient group consists of adults, primarily older men and women recovering from falls and fractures. The unit offers care and reablement to a wide range of patients and includes two specialist bariatric rooms.
Occupational therapists use their initial contact with each patient to work collaboratively with them and their families, gathering information about the patient’ s usual level of function, home environment, key relationships and interests.
With a reablement-led approach, the unit aims to empower patients to regain confidence and
36 OTnews September 2025