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Tony Dunn from Liverpool was born with Cerebral Palsy and has since experienced chronic pain his entire life. Tony’s pain has varied in level over the years, in his legs and his back, but recent hip pain was massively impacting his quality of life and exacerbating his pain.

It was also making it difficult to work, something he had to put on hold while he sought help. At The Walton Centre, Tony found the Pain Management Programme (PMP), and after a referral from their GP, was able to attend a course which helped him to live with his chronic pain better.

Tony said: “That first day I was in the waiting room, about to be called in for the assessment. I was nervous, pale and sweating thinking about what was about to happen. Then a group of patients came through the waiting room, smiling, happy and energetic. These were all people with some sort of chronic pain and they looked so full of life!

“Fast forward to taking part in the course, and it was a gamechanger. Therapy staff would get us in the gym and help us to relearn almost automatic actions like walking up the stairs. I was pulling myself up with my upper body on the banister, when they taught me to lean into it, use my legs. At this point I could already see a way forward with how to manage my chronic pain.”

In particular, the PMP team, made up of multidisciplinary staff, were able to work with Tony on getting ready for work, writing letters explaining his condition to future employers and supplying further information.

Tony said: “After using what the course at the PMP taught me about physical and mental health and wellbeing, I knew securing a job was the next challenge. One of the Occupational Therapists’ Louise drafted a letter for me, explaining to employers why I’ve not been in work recently and what chronic pain is. This piece of paper was incredibly useful, to the point where I secured a job running the office of a local garage.

“My manager even commented on the letter, saying that it was so useful to know when considering an application. I think having that context really helped me to secure the interview, and then later the permanent job. I don’t think people without chronic pain realise how liberating having an understanding work environment can be. I’ve been there a couple of months now part time and I’m comfortable, working hard and I’ve become a valued member of the team. I’m working up to full time hours too. It’s put the biggest smile on my face, and the PMP really helped to make it possible.”

If you want to know more about The Walton Centre’s Pain Management Programme, head to our website: Pain Management Programme

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Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

We are happy to announce a brand new role at The Walton Centre, the first Learning Disabilities and Autism Liaison Nurse. Libby Hall has been at the Trust for over a month now and we had the opportunity to get to know more about her and her role. Read more below...

Tell us what led you to this role...

I have worked with adults and children with learning disabilities and autism for over 23 years now, I initially started my journey as support worker before qualifying in 2008 as a Registered Learning Disability Nurse and I have been in the role since.

Why did you decide to go into this role?

Since qualifying as a nurse I have been fortunate to have worked in various setting from inpatients to community. Working closely with liaison nurses I have been able to see how having this role has improved a person's journey accessing a hospital setting. I recognised that I wanted to be part of improving the lives of those with LD/autism to reduce inequalities in a hospital setting.

What does this role mean to you?

I am passionate and proud to be a learning disability nurse. I have transferable skills and knowledge to bring to this role. It is an exciting time to work with all departments and I am privileged to be part of the Walton Centre.

What are your plans for the future at The Walton Centre?

Develop links with self-advocates/charities to look at how services could be improved and to support learning disability champions around the Trust. I also aim to be a supportive and reliable point of contact for families and carers.

What is on your bucket list for this year?

To go on holiday with my family and spend quality time with them.

What is the best advice you have been given at work?

Don’t be overwhelmed with the task ahead – Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Who is your biggest motivator?
My husband and my daughter

Having a loved one in the Horsley Intensive Care Unit at The Walton Centre can be a very emotional and worrying time.  

With 20 beds, the unit is full of complex, life-saving machines and critically ill patients. 

For both patients and family members it can be a frightening and confusing experience, so staff have created a new ICU patient diary, to explain what goes on in the unit and chart a patient’s progress. 

Oonagh Doherty, ICU Matron, said: “Patients and family members have found it very useful to look back at notes and diaries they have made during the time they’ve been a patient in ICU. Patients may be in a coma or sedated, or on medication and can’t remember things, which can be very scary. It’s also good for family members; there’s a lot going on and it’s comforting to be able to look back and review progress.” 

The diary also explains the different equipment in ICU, medical terms which might be heard, and has space for family members to complete information about their loved one so staff can get to know them better to enable us to treat them better and with the respect and dignity they deserve. 

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Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

In 2011, Painter and decorator Robert Shakespeare started experiencing intense daily headaches. Later diagnosed as migraine phenotype, Robert had experienced these headaches on and off over the years, but they were becoming persistent and increasingly painful.

The 51-year-old from Manchester said: “I was getting intense pressure above my eyes and my vision was starting to blur. They really tire me out and my face becomes so painful too. The most unpleasant thing is the auras though, it’s like I’m forced to look through a kaleidoscope.”

After years of investigations and trying different medications, Robert came to the headache service at The Walton Centre, after seeing Dr Nicholas Silver for a consultation.

Robert continued: “I’ve not had a great experience with the NHS in the past, with the GP and other hospitals. But when I came to The Walton Centre that all changed. I feel like the team actually listen to me. Sometimes you can seek help for migraine and there’s a lack of confidence in how to treat you. But knowing there is a fantastic headache service in the North West makes a huge difference.”

The Walton Centre hosts the largest headache service in the UK, with four dedicated consultants who specifically specialise in management of headache disorders alongside a supporting team of nurse specialists. The Walton Centre provides holistic and excellent care to patients who have experienced refractory or severe headache disorders. The nurse specialist team leads the way in the UK with intervention clinics, utilising cranial botulinum toxin and nerve block injections. The service also has innovated in providing non-oral drug treatments such as non-invasive nerve stimulators, nerve block injections, cranial botulinum toxin injections and new classes of drugs such as CGRP monoclonal antibody therapies.

Each patient is unique and deserves patient-centred care so that they can learn how to manage their condition long-term and reduce the impact on their work, family and social life.

Robert said: “Now at The Walton Centre, we’re trying different ways to minimise my migraines, from Botox injections to new medication. It’s starting to work because I’ve gone from constant migraines lasting days and weeks, to only two to five days a month. My care and treatment is ongoing, it has had a positive effect in reducing my severe migraines and we are continuing to treat the level of auras I have. I can’t thank the team enough, it’s so reassuring to have them there. I just wish I had seen them sooner!”

If you want to know more about The Walton Centre’s headache services, go to our website: https://www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk/departments-and-services/headache-service/415522#opI1

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Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

Earlier this year, staff from The Walton Centre visited a hospital in Nigeria during their building of a new stroke and neuroscience centre. Here is an extract from Professor Andrew Brodbelt's account of the trip.

Dr Baba Aji and I were on our way to Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria from Abuja, the capital. We were with Professor Ahmed Ahidjo, an interventional radiologist, and the Chief Medical Officer of a large federal hospital complex in a city of three million people. I was looking over the vast dry land, over which we were flying and reflected on the fact that Ahmed makes use of every opportunity to advance his vision of better healthcare for his city, region, and country. We had arrived the day before and had already been to the Nigerian Department of Health and met the permanent secretaries for health and procurement. Describing a plan for a collaboration between The Walton Centre (WCFT) and The University Hospital of Maiduguri (UHM), Ahmed successfully petitioned the department for funding of a CT scanner, MRI, and Angio suite for his new stroke and neuroscience centre. 

I have never been to Africa before. Walking across the tarmac, after disembarking the plane at Maiduguri airport, it was hot, sunny, dry, and dusty. The people were very friendly, and welcoming. We were greeted with a line of people from the hospital welcoming us, then though immigration, and into a waiting car. We followed our security escort, and were driven through the streets of Maiduguri, at speed at times. Vast numbers of cars, small three-wheeled taxis, and bikes were on the road. If there are traffic rules, they involve a lot of horn honking and pushing through at junctions. There were so many people. I felt we were in a living, breathing city. People were in bright colours, with long flowing clothes. There were lots of children about. 

The purpose of our journey was to visit the UHM, meet people working there, see their facilities, attend, and present at a one-day symposium, and agree how a collaboration between the two hospitals could work. There was a lot of building work going on, and we toured several of the sites during our visit. The stroke and neuroscience centre came about because Ahmed noted that stroke patients occupied many of the hospital beds. Patients tended to present late, often many days or weeks after symptom onset, with pressure sores and infections. Ahmed wanted stroke patients treated much earlier to improve their care and outcomes. He agreed funding with the federal government for the building. The stroke centre became a stroke and neuroscience centre following Dr Aji’s advice after visiting in 2023. The building is due to be completed later this year. The ground floor is occupied by an emergency stroke admitting unit, outpatient department, radiology department, and ITU with adjacent neurosurgical theatres. There is an educational centre, and 150 ward beds. 

We also toured the limb reconstruction centre. Due to the previous insurgency related to Boka Harum, there are a great number of people who have lost arms or legs. The centre provides a complete service from initial fitting, manufacturing, and education on use. There is no funded healthcare provision in Nigeria, and although there are subsidies, a minority of people in Maiduguri can afford healthcare. It costs around $200-300 US dollars (£150-£200) to buy a new leg. There are sometimes subsidies available from charitable donations from wealthy Nigerians which can help with affording costs. Incomes in this area are extremely low, even well-paid doctors will earn only £400 a month, and most people earn much less. Schooling must be paid for, and many must decide on medical care, school for the children, or the essentials for living. An additional issue for the hospital is that the electricity supply regularly cuts out. To counter this problem, Ahmed built a solar farm and has the first Linacs (radiotherapy machines) in Nigeria that run purely on solar power. 

As well as touring the facilitates, we had an eventful and busy few days. Dr Aji and I presented at the symposium, we took part in a clinical conference, meeting a patient with a brain tumour and his family, and a patient with headache and a cervical disc prolapse. We were interviewed for a TV documentary, and also by the national press, and appeared on the national news. We met the governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, for dinner, and the Shehu of Borno state. The Shehu is the religious leader for Borno state, and for this last meeting I was sized up and provided with dress robes to wear. I felt this was a great honour, and due in no small part to Ahmed’s influence in the region. 

The Walton Centre is currently developing a partnership arrangement with UHM to facilitate cooperation, to include potential educational, research, estate, and clinical collaborations. At the end, we left Maiduguri with new friends and contacts, and a wish to continue to work with them in the future. 

At the age of 31, Liane Draper was working fulltime and looking after two young children, when she began to experience seizures that left her with lockjaw and black spots in her memory.

Liane felt that her busy, stressful routine with family and work may have contributed to the situation in which her Epilepsy was discovered. She said: “At the time I didn’t stop. I’d do a full day’s work, then come home, sort out the girls and then spend the whole evening cleaning the house top to bottom. Looking back now I think it’s safe to say I was struggling mental health-wise. I wanted everything to be clean and tidy, but obviously I went too far with it.”

The 44-year-old, from St Helens, was diagnosed with Epilepsy and was referred to The Walton Centre for treatment.

She said: “I’ve had lots of scans and treatment over the years to really pin down which parts of the brain my seizures are coming from. The Walton Centre has been amazing throughout. I’m able to speak to experts about my care regardless of what it is. I really appreciate their support and their ability as a team to look after me from a number of different perspectives.”

At the beginning of 2022, Liane had a procedure where telemetric sensors were inserted into her brain, to further study the origins of her seizures. Then, in December that year, Liane underwent brain surgery, after which she is yet to experience another seizure.

Liane continued: “It was a long surgery, and I’m still on anti-epilepsy medication, but to be so far seizure-free is incredible, and I cannot thank The Walton Centre enough. The hospital is like my security blanket. Particularly Professor Tony Marson and the team, they are focused, empathetic and incredibly compassionate.” 

The Walton Centre hosts one of the largest Epilepsy services in the UK. The specialist Trust offers multidisciplinary care, from the first seizure through to complex epilepsy and brain surgery. The hospital has recently been announced as one of only two centres for Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy, a cutting-edge procedure for patients with Epilepsy that is not easily controlled with medication.

For more information on our Epilepsy services at The Walton Centre, head to our website: Epilepsy

What is your job role?

Lead for Speech and Language Therapy within The Walton Centre.

What made you choose to do the job you are in now?

My mum was a nurse, so I knew from an early age that I wanted to go into something health care related. Having a chat and a cup of coffee is massively important to me so when I found out there was a job to help others with that - I knew it was the one for me!

Favourite part of your job?

So many to choose from, its hard to pick! It is such a varied job and no two days are the same, but the best part of the job is getting to know people and their stories. When we first give people the ability to communicate, for example patients with tracheostomies on ITU, it can be very emotional for all involved! I also love when we can get people eating or drinking again and finding out what the 'first tastes' are that they would go for. 

I’m also lucky enough to have been able to set up an Multi Disciplinary Team secretion management clinic for some of our Motor Neurone Disease patients – drooling is so socially stigmatized that it often causes people to become socially isolated and being able to address that and give people confidence to spend time with family and friends again is a real privilege. 

Tell me about the most rewarding experience you have had in your role.

I’m lucky that I love most things about my job but there will always be the patients that stick with you. I think when we’ve worked really hard with someone to get their swallow going – often from the very early stages on Intensive Care Unit when they can’t even manage their own saliva and have to have a tracheostomy and the distress that causes. We support them all through their journey – getting them communicating again, rehabilitating the swallow so we can get the tracheostomy out alongside the Multi Disciplinary Team and then carrying on with our input until we manage to get them eating and drinking again. Making them that first cup of coffee or getting them that first bar of chocolate always makes it all worth it. 

What's the best advice you've received at work?

You can always add something positive to someone’s day – even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment! The gains we make might seem small at the time but they can all add up to be a big thing.

What/who is your biggest motivator at work?

It sounds really obvious but the patients are definitely the biggest motivator – even when we don’t manage to get the outcomes we all wanted, knowing that we’ve done everything we can, that we’ve used the most up-to-date evidence and therapy and there really is nothing else we could have tried makes it a bit easier, for us as well as the patients. Being able to reassure the Speech and Language Therapy team of that as well goes a long way towards keeping morale high in tough times and in keeping the team motivated. 

What is on your bucket list for this year?

Work wise, becoming one of the first Speech and Language Therapists in the country to be able to offer botulinum toxin injections for saliva control and trying out new developments such as Biozoon (flavoured air) with our nil by mouth patients and evaluating the impact of this.  Outside of work I’d like to finally take the trip to Iceland (the country!) I was supposed to do in 2000.