Cambridge podcast hopes to shine light on brain injury pledge
The podcast based at Addenbrooke's Hospital launches its first episode
A podcast run by a Cambridge hospital is aiming to change the way people with a brain or spinal injury are treated.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) established a HealthTech Research Centre based at Addenbrooke's in 2024, and is part of 14 other centres across England, each specialising in a different area.
Addenbrooke's and the NIHR have teamed up to launch its own podcast, hosted by James Piercy, who suffered a severe head injury after a road accident in 2011.
"If you listen to somebody talking about their story and it chimes with you, that can be a really powerful thing," James said.
"The Government are working on an acquired brain injury action plan to change and improve (the lives of) thousands of people with this injury.
"We need to speak to our MPs to make sure stuff happens and we change the way people get cared for and looked after."
Ex-Paralympian to star
The first episode - which launches today - is with former Paralympian Steve Brown, who went on to captain the 2012 Great Britain wheelchair rugby team after breaking his spine in his twenties.
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Injury brings together NHS partners, business, and patients to develop technologies that improve patient care and ongoing independence.
James - patient public involvement and engagement lead at the NIHR HealthTech centre for brain injury - came up with the idea of running a podcast, which were first set up last year.
"I thought we need to raise awareness of this and what a better way to do this than to talk to people, capture their stories, and people can find out about new developments in the treatment of brain injury," he said.
ABI plan to be released
Figure from the brain injury charity Headway show there were 335,409 hospital admissions in the UK for acquired brain injury (ABI) in 2023-24.
While the charity said there were almost 124,000 hospital admissions for head injury during the same period.
Last month, the Government confirmed that an ABI action plan is set to be published this year after pressure from campaigners and MPs.
Speaking at a debate in Parliament in December, Sir John Hayes MP - who has experienced a brain injury - said "there now seems to be momentum on this issue, which is what sufferers and their families deserve.
"The plan needs to include a focus on better community rehabilitation and on how that will help to achieve real change for people with ABI."
More than 1.3 million people in the UK are living with the long-term effects of ABI.
James hopes that progress can be achieved in the hope of securing better treatment.
"When people get to hospital, do they get assessed properly? If you have a minor injury, does it get picked up? There are lots of gaps and I think we need a more joined up approach," he added.
"We need to get people treated not in hospital, but out in the community and we need to start thinking about treating wellbeing rather than illness, rather than wait for a crisis and doing something about it."