A new review into the effectiveness of prosthetics services offered by the National Health Service (NHS), United Kingdom (UK), for those veterans who have lost a limb due to activities while serving their country, has been launched by the Department of Health (DH) Minister of State for Health, Simon Burns, MP (Member of Parliament).
Service charities have informed the DH that some personnel leaving the armed forces are concerned that the NHS may not be adequately equipped to provide prosthetic services to veterans at the same standard currently provided by the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court, England.
The review, which will be conducted by Andrew Murrison, MD, MP, will gather evidence on the current and future needs of prosthetics services for veterans and on the provision and cost of services. It will also look at the future funding of high-specification, evidence-based prosthetics; services within the NHS and the possible contribution of personal health budgets and the inclusion of these in continuing healthcare arrangements; how regional variations in service can be minimized; how the transition from the armed forces’ prosthetics care to the NHS can be improved; and the role of service charities in helping to meet the realistic needs of individuals over and above that which the NHS can provide.
“I am grateful to the service charities for bringing this to our attention,” Burns said. “We remain firmly committed to ensuring that military personnel will continue to receive the standard of prosthetics issued by the MOD (Ministry of Defence) at Headley Court when they are discharged. Service personnel risk everything in the service of this country, and the NHS must provide the first-class care that these brave men and women rightly deserve and help to improve their health outcomes.”
Murrison will be calling on the experience and knowledge of the British Limbless Ex Service Men’s Association (BLESMA) and Help for Heroes in taking this work forward, as well as the MOD, NHS, and other service charities.
