A comprehensive rehabilitation service.

Integration of all rehabilitation services to the community is advocated to form a comprehensive rehabilitation service. This will embrace all age groups over 14 and combine geriatrics and physical medicine with paramedical personnel in a multidisciplinary team. Close liaison with psychiatric rehabilitation will be achieved by parallel use of a computerised client register. General practitioners will be actively involved. This reorganisation will better utilise available facilities and allow scope to develop two proposed new resources: (1) the use of mutual aid by matching of complementary residual skills of the handicapped; and (2) the provision of extra accommodation and care by host-attendants. To fully capitalise on this service, hospital boards should take active initiatives to foster the development of attendant care and the provision of sheltered housing in liaison with government departments, ACC, local bodies and charity organisations. In the long term, central government should consider a final common path for funding of services for disabled people.