At GC Rehab, we provide ongoing specialist rehabilitation care for people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) after discharge from hospital.

Led by Dr Judith Dierkes

Dr Judith Dierkes has a particular interest in spinal cord injury and neurological rehabilitation, providing long-term community-based rehabilitation care for individuals living with spinal cord injury following discharge from hospital.

Transitioning back into the community after a spinal cord injury can be complex. Many patients continue to require long-term medical, functional, and rehabilitation support well beyond their initial inpatient rehabilitation admission.

Our Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation & Community Management service is designed to provide coordinated, long-term specialist rehabilitation care focused on maintaining health, function, independence, and quality of life.

Our Approach

We provide comprehensive rehabilitation medicine oversight for individuals living with spinal cord injury in the community.

This includes:

• Ongoing rehabilitation physician review
• Annual spinal cord injury surveillance
• Spasticity management
• Pain management
• Bladder and bowel management review
• Functional decline assessment
• Therapy coordination and goal setting
• Equipment and mobility review
• Wheelchair and seating assessment coordination
• Carer and family support
• Community reintegration support
• Coordination with GPs, allied health, NDIS, and specialist services

Our aim is to help patients remain as healthy, independent, and functional as possible while proactively identifying and managing complications commonly associated with spinal cord injury.

Annual Spinal Cord Injury Surveillance

People living with spinal cord injury are at risk of a range of long-term complications that may develop gradually over time.

Regular specialist rehabilitation review can help identify issues early and optimise long-term outcomes.

Annual surveillance may include review of:

• Spasticity
• Pain
• Respiratory function
• Bladder function
• Bowel management
• Autonomic dysreflexia
• Orthostatic hypotension
• Sleep and fatigue
• Bone health and osteoporosis risk
• Falls and mobility
• Skin integrity and pressure injury risk
• Mental health and adjustment
• Functional goals and participation
• Wheelchair seating and posture
• Equipment needs and home setup

Where appropriate, further investigations, referrals, and allied health input can be coordinated.

Spasticity & Injection Management

GC Rehab has a particular interest in the management of neurological spasticity.

Management options may include:

• Botulinum toxin injections
• Ultrasound-guided injections
• Diagnostic nerve blocks
• Baclofen optimisation
• Therapy and stretching programs
• Orthotic review
• Emerging interventions including cryoneurolysis in selected patients

Treatment plans are individualised based on functional goals and overall rehabilitation needs.

Coordination of Care

Spinal cord injury management often involves multiple providers across different healthcare systems.

We work closely with:

• General practitioners
• Physiotherapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech pathologists
• Urologists
• Pain specialists
• Orthopaedic surgeons
• Neurosurgeons
• NDIS providers and support coordinators
• Community nursing services

We aim to provide an overarching rehabilitation framework to help coordinate care and reduce fragmentation.

Who May Benefit From This Service?

This service may be suitable for individuals living with:

• Traumatic spinal cord injury
• Non-traumatic spinal cord injury
• Tetraplegia
• Paraplegia
• Incomplete spinal cord injury
• Progressive neurological conditions with spinal cord involvement

Patients may be referred following discharge from inpatient rehabilitation or at any stage of their long-term rehabilitation journey.

Referrals

Referrals are welcome from:

• General practitioners
• Rehabilitation units
• Spinal injury units
• Specialists
• Allied health providers
• NDIS teams
• Self-referrals where appropriate

To make a referral or enquire about this service, please contact GC Rehab.