NeuroRehabilitation OnLine (NROL) project

Professor Louise Connell and Adam Partington

Project overview

A pioneering digital rehabilitation programme developed through a partnership between Lancaster University and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), NeuroRehabilitation OnLine (NROL) delivers multidisciplinary group rehabilitation remotely, enabling patients to access specialist therapy from home.

By overcoming barriers such as geography, mobility limitations and fatigue, the programme increases both access to and intensity of rehabilitation.

In partnership with

Delivered through

Reports

Lancaster University recently carried out an evaluation to examine whether NROL could be feasibly delivered at scale across National Health Service (NHS) regions to increase access to, and intensity of, stroke and neurological therapy in line with national guidelines and offer a sustainable, equitable and efficient model of care.

NROL Evaluation Report

Recent Lancaster University research considered whether NROL represents a more efficient way of producing neurorehabilitation than the existing model of predominantly in-person, one-to-one home visits. This required comparison of inputs and outputs across the two models of delivery. Click here for full report.

NROL Health Economics Report

Awards

NROL has been recognised in various regional and national awards.

2026: National Winners, Advancing Healthcare Awards

Team Award for Best Collaboration across Clinical, Academia and Industry, UK.

2026: Regional Champions NHS England NHS Excellence Awards

Team award for Patient Involvement and Choice category, UK.

Media

The project's award-winning work has made headlines in various publications.

Lancaster University and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust partnership wins national healthcare innovation award - Lancaster University

A pioneering digital rehabilitation programme developed through a partnership between Lancaster University and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) has won a national award for improving access to care for people with neurological conditions.

East Lancs NHS Trust leads stroke rehabilitation programme

A pioneering digital rehabilitation programme has won a major national award after transforming care for stroke patients.

Staff list

Professor Louise Connell

Professor of Allied Health Rehabilitation

Experimental Medicine

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Dr Suzanne Ackerley

Research Fellow

Interdisciplinary network in culture, health, ethics and society

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Eleanor Sowerby

Research Associate – ARC2NWC Knowledge Mobilisation

International Observatory on End of Life Care

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Publications

In date order

Ackerley S, Bastow A, Witham R, Jackson L, Partington A, Vernon H, Connell L. Embedding telerehabilitation in practice: Adapting NeuroRehabilitation OnLine (NROL) for a new context through co-production and implementation science knowledge. DIGITAL HEALTH. 2026 Sep;12. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076261484770

Ackerley S, Mason T, Partington A, Peel R, Vernon H, Connell L. Can we enhance neurorehabilitation through regional implementation of group-based telerehabilitation? A mixed-methods evaluation of NeuroRehabilitation OnLine (NROL). BMJ open. 2026 Feb;16(2):e101820. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101820

Connell L, Ackerley S, Rycroft-Malone J. Applying the updated MRC framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions with integrated implementation conceptual knowledge: an example using NeuroRehabilitation OnLine. Frontiers in Health Services. 2025 May 6;5:1562627. https://doi.org/10.3389/frhs.2025.1562627

Ackerley S, Wilson N, Boland P, Peel R, Connell L. NeuroRehabilitation OnLine: Description of a regional multidisciplinary group telerehabilitation innovation for stroke and neurological conditions using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication checklist. Digital Health. 2024 May;10. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241252263

Ackerley S, Wilson N, Boland P, Read J, Connell L. Implementation of neurological group-based telerehabilitation within existing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods evaluation. BMC Health Services Research. 2023 Jun 21;23(1):671. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09635-w