NHS Prosthetics Hold Athletes Back. – Paralympian
A reigning Paralympic champion has told BBC News that NHS prostheses must improve to generate Great Britain’s “next generation” of gold medalists.
Speaking prior to the Paris Paralympics, runner Richard Whitehead stated that the prosthetics were “not fit for purpose” since they did not allow for a full range of motion and could cause discomfort and skin irritation while running.
The NHS does not typically supply sports prostheses, often known as activity limbs, to adults.
According to NHS England, many fitness and physical activities can be done without using a sports-specific prosthetic.
Whitehead, a double-above-the-knee amputee who specializes in marathon running, has won several world championships. He is also the proud recipient of two Paralympic gold medals for significantly shorter distances, which he raced in because there was no marathon for his disability group.
The numerous physical and mental benefits motivate him to see more amputees participate in sports.
“I want to see a lot more young people running around [and] climbing trees in sports prosthetics, in running blades—I don’t see them,” he said to the BBC.
“It’s not a special occasion” in the United States for someone with a prosthetic to run a marathon, Whitehead said.
However, in the United Kingdom, where hurdles to involvement in sport included a lack of equipment and exorbitant expenses, it remained.
Lower-limb prostheses can range in price from £1,000 to more than £50,000.
A government fund established in 2017 allows any eligible child to acquire a sports prosthetic from their local NHS England limb centre.
However, after the age of 18, this financing is discontinued, and patients now obtain prescription-based NHS walking limbs tailored to their specific needs, which is why they frequently abandon sports, according to Whitehead.
NHS prescriptions were “restrictive,” and some patients were even urged to limit their physical activity so they wouldn’t outgrow their prosthesis.
Jamie Gane, the world’s top para-obstacle course racer, got a below-the-knee amputation in 2016, but it took some time to receive the correct prosthetics to begin his journey into elite sport.
Soon after his amputation, Gane was given an NHS-prescribed prosthetic foot, which he described as “useless” since it was too difficult to walk on.
He paid to have a prosthetic limb fitted privately so he could use the gym and eventually start running while he waited for another surgery, which would have taken 18 months.
Gane was given an NHS limb appropriate for his level of fitness after demonstrating that he would use it for sport, but he claims it did not provide him with the range of mobility he required.
“I could probably do a couple of parkruns and a little bit of sport, but nowhere near the level that I do now,” according to him.
However, according to David Rose of the Limbless Association charity, advances in technology and increased money mean that the NHS prosthetics program is already helping patients achieve more “than it did even five to ten years ago.”
Mr. Rose has been equipped with multiple NHS prosthetics after losing his leg 45 years ago.
For most of his life, he was an avid cricketer, and he claims that practicing sports was the only thing that kept him going.
And, while he agrees with Whitehead, “we have to make the best of what we have.”.
Walid Saleh, 26, a single-leg amputee since he was a youth, was motivated by Whitehead’s 200-meter gold medal at the London Paralympics.
And Whitehead’s philanthropic foundation is now assisting him in his own dream of competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics by equipping him with his first running limbs.
However, Saleh believes that being an athlete is about more than just winning and collecting gold medals and that becoming more active has improved his mental health.
“The running blades allow me to overcome my disability,” he said.
As the 2024 Paralympics begin, Whitehead hopes his foundation will inspire the next generation.
However, he continued: “To have the next generation of Paralympic athletes and gold medallists, we need to make a change, and that change needs to start with the NHS really believing what is best for the patients.”
According to an NHS England spokesman, the NHS provides a variety of prosthetics to people who have lost limbs, and many fitness and physical activities can be done without a sports-specific prosthetic.
Healthcare practitioners assessed a variety of factors when determining whether patients would benefit from prosthetics or adjustments to aid in fitness and physical activities, including whether patients had a history of activity and were fit enough to utilize them, according to the official.
