Acquired Brain Injury – we need a plan!
The Government agreed to implement an Acquired Brain Injury Strategy following a campaign by Chris Bryant MP. He secured a Private Members’ Bill and ahead of its second reading in the Commons in December 2021, the Government gave the green light for a cross departmental strategy.
Acquired Brain Injury is a leading cause of death and disability affecting more than 1.3 million people and costing £15 billion to the UK economy each year. Acquired brain injury is an issue for the Department for Health and Social Care; Work and Pensions, Education; and Digital, Culture, Media & Sport; and the Ministries of Justice, Defence, Housing, Communities and Local Government. The need for a national pan departmental strategy is vital and long overdue.
As the Government agreed to the Strategy, Chris Bryant, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Acquired Brain Injury, said: “The Government has announced it will be creating a Panel Board in to start devising a whole-Government strategy on ABI. In other words, the Government is doing precisely what my Acquired Brain Injury Private Members’ Bill is calling for.
“A huge thank you to all the acquired brain injury charities, MPs and other campaigners who have been supporting my Bill and the campaign.”
UKABIF, along with a number of other brain injury organisations and charities, have supported Chris Bryant over the past months to add weight, and the voices of those with acquired brain injury, to the campaign.
Chloe Hayward, Executive Director of UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF), said: “We are acutely aware of how much this Strategy is needed and what a difference it will make to better supporting people with an acquired brain injury.
“It has been a real collective effort from charities including The Child Brain Injury Trust, The Children’s Trust, The Disabilities Trust and Headway, supporters, service users and MPs and it is wonderful to see that collaboration pay off. There is much work to do ABI strategy is implemented and we will all continue to play a key role in ensuring people with acquired brain injury have access to the support they need.”
Now the strategy has been agreed, work has started on the implementation process. Chris Bryant has met with Gillian Keegan, Minister of State for Care at the Department of Health and Social Care to draw up a time line and discuss terms of reference and calls for evidence.
While the Strategy is still in its early phase, it is expected that the new Strategy Programme Board will meet around Easter with key civil servants from across Government departments invited to ensure the Strategy covers all the issues raised by the charities and organisations during the campaign.
As the Strategy is formalising, ongoing engagement with representatives and services users of the brain injury charities and organisations will be used to feed through to the Programme Board. Updates on the Strategy will be posted here regularly.
Links & Downloads
Programme Board
The board is chaired by Helen Whately and Chris Bryant.
The group includes representatives from
- The Department of Health and Social Care
- The Department of Work and Pensions
- The Department of Housing
- The Department for Culture Media and Sport
- The Ministry of Justice
- The Ministry of Defence
- The Department for Levelling Up
- NHS England
- The Scottish Government
- The Welsh Government
Parliamentary Reception
Sir Chris Bryant, MP and Sir John Hayes, MP are to host an Acquired Brain Injury Reception in Parliament on Wednesday 1st February 2022. MPs are being invited to attend the event where they will be able to meet constituents, hear more about the ABI Strategy and join the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Acquired Brain Injury.
The event will take place in the Jubilee Room from 1-3.30pm and will provide people who have a lived experience of acquired brain injury, professionals working in the field and voluntary organisations the opportunity to come together to raise awareness and support for the Acquired Brain Injury Strategy.
If you would like to invite your MP to meet you at this event you may wish to use our template letter. Just download the letter and complete your details. You can find your MP and their email address here.
Patient and Public Voice Representative Group
The group is meeting regularly throughout the development of the strategy. It is co chaired by Chloe Hayward, UKABIF and Georgina Carr, The Neurological Alliance. Dominic Hurley has also chaired some sessions. Headway, The Children’s Trust, The Child Brain Injury Trust and The Disabilities Trust attend alongside experts by experience.
The key tasks for the Patient and Public Voice Reference Group are to:
- Consider the key proposals and papers produced by the steering group and provide independent advice to the Programme Board, reaching consensus and/or escalating key issues as needed.
- Ensure that the views of those directly affected by and living with an ABI are properly taken into account during the development of the strategy.
- Help reach consensus on key issues between the different groups involved in the strategy as necessary. If an issue cannot be resolved between either the organisations represented or the relevant groups involved, such issues should be escalated through appropriate routes.
Key Meetings
- Steering Group 12th January 2023
- Programme Board 1st February 2023
- Parliamentary Reception 1st February 2023
Supporting Organisations
