I have read the editorial in the October BJGP with great interest;1 I first applied the rehabilitation process in 1945.
Having served in three small ships I was appointed medical officer in charge of a Royal Naval convalescent home and approximately 100 beds for ratings recovering from general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, and medical cases.
Having been inspired by my previous teaching as a house surgeon, by a consultant who, influenced by the Liverpool team practiced rehabilitation and its motto ‘Return to Full Function’. Thus fortified, I altered the focus of a ‘convalescent home’ and together with an excellent chief petty officer physiotherapist we set about rehabilitating every suitable case.
One medical case was an older chief petty officer steward, aged about 50 years, who had suffered a severe coronary thrombosis. He was bed bound and had been treated at …