New prosthetics available on the NHS

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust’s patients are the first in Cumbria to get new Microprocessor Controlled Knee (MPK) prosthetics on the NHS.

NHS England made the decision to approve the use of MPKs on the NHS for patients who meet the criteria, and the Trust has been working hard to assess and select the right patients to benefit from them.

They have been available to the country’s serving and ex-service men and women and offer huge improvements over traditional prosthetics.

Unlike mechanical prosthetics, MPKs use an internal computer and sensors to monitor each step and use this information to make real-time adjustments to the knee. They make walking at various speeds easier and manoeuvring easier.

Niki Tebbutt, clinical specialist physiotherapist in amputee rehabilitation for the Trust, said: “This is a huge benefit for our patients and I’m thrilled to be able to work with them and help them get the most from their new prosthetics. It’s a big commitment from everyone involved, the staff and the patients. The new prosthetics aren’t for everyone and require a lot of hard work and dedication. We have to carefully choose each patient as the criteria for selection is very strict, with four weeks of physiotherapy and prosthetists input needed to help patients learn how to adapt to the new knees and get the most from them. They are more expensive than the mechanical knee but offer a much improved quality of life and, as they prevent falls, offer a long term saving for the Trust.

“It has been a real team effort between the patients, physiotherapists and prosthetists to make sure these trials have been a success. It is incredibly rewarding to see a patient’s quality of life improve because of this technology. It is really about all the things many of us take for granted such as walking down stairs or just being able to get out of a car easily and safely.”