NHS England, which leads the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) in England, announced that it has approved funding for microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees (MPKs) for people with transfemoral amputations and hip disarticulations in that country. The decision is expected to help improve the quality of limb loss rehabilitation there.
The Clinical Commissioning Policy regulates the NHS’ provision of prosthetic knee components, allowing MPKs to be funded through specialized commissioning. The MPK approval is among ten items NHS announced as part of the annual prioritization process for specialized treatments.
The policy request for MPK approval was submitted to NHS England in 2013. Since the submission, various organizations, including prosthetic device manufacturers, have campaigned for the approval of the policy, which was created by the Clinical Reference Group on Disability Equipment.
“This policy has been in the making for a long time,” Phil Yates, managing director at Ottobock, Austin, Texas, told Enable magazine. “We believe this is a positive step forward, which recognizes that the advances in prosthetic technology can make a real difference to the lifestyle and health of amputees. MPKs allow amputees access to activities that may not have been previously achievable and in some cases enabling them to go back to work.”
