Tuesday, September 4, 2007

'Limbless Association' Seeks Military Quality Care for Civilian Amputees

'Limbless Association' Seeks Military Quality Care for Civilian Amputees

The Limbless Association, which was established in 1983 to represent both civilian and military amputees, welcomes the review being carried out by Dr. Andrew Murrison, MP for South West Wiltshire, on the ability of the NHS to care for ex-military amputees, when they move from military care to the NHS. We note the comments of Health Minister Simon Burns, who states that those injured, must get “…first class care”. This surely is the right of every NHS patient and not just military amputees. The Limbless Association too, is concerned over the ability of the NHS to care for ex-military personnel, as currently, a number of NHS Trusts are struggling to cope with the civilian amputees under their care.

(PRWeb UK) January 15, 2011

The Limbless Association, which was established in 1983 to represent both civilian and military amputees, welcomes the review being carried out by Dr. Andrew Murrison, MP for South West Wiltshire, on the ability of the NHS to care for ex-military amputees, when they move from military care to the NHS. We note the comments of Health Minister Simon Burns, who states that those injured, must get “…first class care”. This surely is the right of every NHS patient and not just military amputees. The Limbless Association too, is concerned over the ability of the NHS to care for ex-military personnel, as currently, a number of NHS Trusts are struggling to cope with the civilian amputees under their care.

Sadly, successive governments have done little to help the thousands of amputees who are treated by the NHS. We hear complaints on a regular basis from amputees with badly fitting limbs, or with limbs that are unfit for the needs of the patient and, on rare occasions, complaints about Consultants and Prosthetists who ignore the needs of NHS amputees. We have cases of amputees who move home and are unable to remain with their current prosthetist in whom have both confidence, and over the years, have formed a bond. This is despite the fact that the Government promised that all patients would be able to choose where they receive treatment.

The “post code lottery” is far from being resolved and, in fact, appears to be expanding, with respect to differing levels of service, resulting in an increase in the number of complaints received by the LA. The type and form of prosthesis available to amputees varies tremendously between the Disablement Service Centres (DSCs), with costs followed by age appearing to be the overriding criteria used to determine whether or not patients receive the most suitable limbs for their needs.

Most NHS amputees are now over 50 years old and their amputations are a result of a number of different factors such as: - congenital deformities, accidents, diabetes, cancer, or other illness. Contrary to popular belief, very few of these amputees have ever received any compensation for their limb loss.

Many of these amputees have worked all their adult lives, sometimes being subjected to disability discrimination and being stuck in poorly paid jobs. Regardless of whether or not these amputees lost limbs in childhood or in later life, they all have one thing in common; the majority of UK amputees were part of the generation that helped pull the UK back from the destruction and chaos of the Second World War and thereby helping to make the UK a top world economy. Most have paid into the system their entire adult lives through National Insurance and taxes, as did their parents before them. The system is now letting them down and is unlikely to improve. There is an additional risk of a two-tier system coming in to operation if ex-military personnel are singled out for special treatment.

No one would deny the best treatment should be available to heroes within our fighting forces, but many older amputees who lost limbs in previous wars, together with many other civilian amputees, are being denied access to technological advances which could tremendously improve their quality of life. These are the forgotten heroes, whose voices are rarely heard.

The Limbless Association calls on the Government to show a clear and unconditional commitment to all amputees, regardless of whether they are civilian or ex-military, to ensure that their needs are met at the same standard as those afforded to recent military amputees. This review should be to the benefit of all, with quality and excellence being the target to be achieved throughout the UK at all the DSCs.

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