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Military charity welcomes £11 million funding boost

Military charity welcomes £11 million funding boost

A big improvement in NHS prosthetic care for veterans

15 February 2013

London based war veterans’ charity has pushed the boat out to mark the announcement that NHS services will benefit from additional funding to improve prosthetic and rehabilitation services for ex-servicemen and women. This is in response to recommendations made by Dr Andrew Murrison MP in a report – commissioned by the Prime Minister – about the provision of prosthetics for military amputees. 

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex service men and women, their widows and dependants. It has been lobbying for improving improvements in NHS provision for artificial limbs for over 40 years.

Jerome Church, General Secretary of Blesma says: “This is a significant moment in the long story of prosthetic provision in this country, one that Blesma has been working towards for decades. Blesma with the support and backing of Help for Heroes has liaised closely with the Department of Health throughout the process undertaken to implement the recommendations made in the report written by Dr Andrew Morrison MP ‘A Better Deal for Military Amputees’.

We welcome the selection of the nine established NHS limbfitting centres to provide specialist services for veterans who may have lost their limbs as a result of service. We believe these centres will be up to the challenge facing them as they take on the responsibility of providing modern high specification prosthetics for those recently discharged from the Armed Forces and the care of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre - Headley Court.”

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter announced today that the government will make £11 million available over the next two years to ensure veterans are able to access a high level of prosthetic and rehabilitation care.

Nine NHS facilities across the country will receive a share of up to £6.7 million of the funding. They will be able to use this specifically to access the latest technology and provide the highest quality of prosthetic care for veteran amputees.

For more information on Blesma, The Limbless Veterans visit www.blesma.org

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex service men and women, their widows and dependants.

It is a membership organisation which helps wounded service men and women rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their membership includes those who have lost the use of a limb, an eye or the sight of an eye.

Blesma was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932. Today, Blesma’s membership consists of men and women who have served during the Second World War and the many subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping operations since, including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Blesma today has over 4000 Members and widows.

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