The ERB'S PALSY
GROUP was established in 1991 by Debbie Clark, a
parent with a child with Erb's Palsy. Debbie registered with Contact
a Family, an organisation for children with rare conditions,
and then met with other families in Bolsover Street clinic
and arranged a get together for 12 families, in Nuneaton
in conjunction with a lady called Beverley Kelly from Coventry. From that meeting a management
committee was set up and each person on it agreed to
contact their local press to raise awareness of the condition
and the new group. An article appeared in the Coventry
press and that is how Karen Hillyer became aware of the group. The group grew steadily and had
30 families up until 1994 when one committee member, Eunice
Bolton, contacted GMTV and secured a place on the Lorraine
Kelly show. Since the broadcast of the show
the telephone went crazy and membership grew to over 200
overnight. The group has now gone from strength
to strength and as of today we have over 1175 families registered
as members and over 120 professional members also. In accordance with our objectives,
as set out in our constitution, the group has embarked
on a series of one day conferences aimed at health care professionals
and to date has provided guidance on Best Practice procedures
to over 300 physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists,
over 800 Midwives and also to Paediatricians, all of whom
are involved in the delivery of babies and treatment
of children affected by Brachial Plexus Injuries. We are proud to have worked in
partnership with The team from The Childrens hand Clinic
at St James's University Hospital, Leeds on developing an
Integrated Care Pathway for the treatment of Obstetrical
Brachial Plexus Palsy and to have contributed to the
development of Shoulder Dystocia Protocols in many labour
wards throughout the country. There is more work to do
- however the group is proud of it's achievements in raising
public awareness of this condition and in helping many families
to access expert care and therapy for their children
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