Summary
At our Bridging the Gap event, we gathered, we listened and we learned about the latest solution focused projects and interventions to support those experiencing limb loss.
Friday 17th April saw the Limbless Association’s second Bridging the Gap flagship event, most generously supported by our friends at Evelyn Partners at their prestigious offices in the City of London.
This time, the focus was on rehabilitation and lifelong support pathways, linked to Collaboration and Co-production, enabling improved outcomes after amputation. And indeed, rehabilitation and lifelong support pathways are among the reasons the Limbless Association was established back in 1983. Our founder, Sam Gallop, recognised that at that time, civilians living with limb loss and limb difference were not necessarily able to access the support and specialist advice needed beyond the hospital and the clinic room.
And so much has changed over the past 42+ years! For example, my first contact with NHS prosthetic services was in Roehampton, and my first above-knee prostheses was basically the same equipment that was being issued to amputee casualties during the Second World War. I
have therefore lived through a revolution and evolution in terms of prosthetic technology, but the future continues to develop before our eyes.
One of the speakers at the event that I was really looking forward to listening to was Dr Ugur Tanriverdi, CEO and Co-founder of Unhindr. I first met Ugur about eight years ago at a seminar exploring the potential for improving prosthetic technology. He was beginning the process to
develop an adaptive liner, utilising machine learning to promote socket comfort. The Limbless Association played an important part in the development of this product – the Roliner, the world’s first adaptive liner with artificial intelligence. Roliner reads real-time sensor data between the wearer’s residual leg and socket, and is able to adapt as the leg changes shape and size over time.
The range and depth of expertise at this event was very impressive. Dr Cleveland Barnett, Associate Professor of Biomechanics at Nottingham Trent University, spoke about moving towards ‘date-driven’ care in prosthetic rehabilitation. Joshua Hughes, Head of Bolt Burden Kemps’s complex injury team, discussed the idea that knowledge is power, in terms of assessing and meeting both early and lifelong rehabilitation needs through client-centred and community-led approaches.
Dr Ceri Phelps and Dr Paul Hutchings, from the Centre for Psychology and Counselling at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, spoke about the ‘Walking in our Shoes Project’. This concentrates on the idea of embedding lived experience in the co-development of a psychosocial resource to support people living with limb loss. Dr Natalie Venicek, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Hull, provided an update on the ‘Step Forward and Assist’ clinical trials. These projects are focused on advancing prosthetic therapies for patients living with limb loss.
The closing presentation, which was perhaps the most thought-provoking of the whole programme, was given by Dr Nicky Eddison, Chair of BAPO (British Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics). She spoke in considerable detail about the challenges and opportunities facing the profession and the potential risks to the provision of patient services. It is estimated that at this present time, there are 840 P&O professionals employed by the NHS in the whole of the UK and of these, something like only 250 to 300 are prosthetists. And with the changes being introduced by the government, such as the abolition of NHS England, there is a real risk that prosthetics will be seen as merely a commodity, and the equipment that we as amputees rely upon could be dehumanised. I know that the prosthetics industry is supportive of BAPO’s work in this area, and if we don’t have these conversations now, then we will be storing up potentially serious problems for the future!
The Limbless Association will continue to advocate for all people living with limb loss in the UK. We have a voice, and I will ensure that we are heard! David Rose, Chair of Trustees, Limbless Association.
