The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists

BAPO

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CAHPR Distribution Lists – North West

Did you know that your BAPO membership also gives you access to the Council of Allied Health Professions Research or CAHPR. They have networks of research active AHPs across the country.
 
They offer support and have great guides for starting to develop your skills in research at all levels from developing and interest to building a clinical academic career.
 
Currently the North West Hubs are building their mailing lists. If you live or work in the areas below you can follow the link to share your details and find out about events and support in your region

Cheshire & Merseyside: https://forms.office.com/r/NvL2XXKsT7

Cumbria & Lancashire: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ShareFormPage.aspx?id=gpn262sDxEyyAnrrGUxQZc3JHJk1lWJGkf9L0BdR1uZUQ1BSREdTM0tGSTBXVVZJNjIyVjJPMFkwVC4u&sharetoken=BLAvS7eHHxE1Ifw1gfio

Greater Manchester : https://forms.office.com/r/gJcEZrUnRB

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Marketing – Committee Member Advert

BAPO is seeking additional members to join and strengthen our Marketing Committee.

As the UK’s professional body for prosthetics and orthotics, we are committed to building lifelong relationships with our members that help them achieve their full potential and improve the lives of patients across the country. As a volunteer serving on this committee, you will play a crucial part by helping us to better understand our audiences (members and non-members).

The Executive Committee is setting ambitious targets for 2021, reflecting feedback from our P&O community! To achieve these, we need more current and reliable insight across our membership segments, and improved engagement to inform our actions. As a member of the Marketing sub-committee you will contribute to this key activity.

This is an exciting time to join our growing team. We are seeking volunteers who are passionate about representing our profession, with an interest in marketing, communications and social media. Ideal contributors will have strong interpersonal qualities and the ability to engage and collaborate with others; to identify opportunities, discover best practice, and then assist with communicating relevant findings and recommendations.

BAPO offers its volunteer members a supportive culture for your own learning, with opportunities for you to stretch yourself and test out different ways of working. As you join the committee you will be provided with an induction and mentor to help you through the initial period and ensure that you feel supported.

Success in this activity will require a combination of self-directed activity, whilst working as part of a team. The nature of the role means that there will be a requirement to commit to some evening and/or weekend working.

So, if you’re looking for an opportunity to be creative, make an impact and would enjoy working in a small team environment, find out more about this new exciting role.

To ensure we have diverse representation from our membership, expressions of interest will be welcomed from under-represented groups. These include:

                          – Prosthetists
                          – Student members
                          – Technicians
                          – Members in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland

We would also welcome interest from marketing professionals keen to volunteer some of their time and expertise to serve on our sub-committee in an advisory capacity.

Please confirm you interest by 19th March 2021 to enquires@BAPO.com

For an informal discussion about the role, commitment required and support that would be offered you can contact Peter Iliff at peter@bapo.com 

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AHP’s Listen Event

The Current Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) strategy ‘AHPs into Action is coming to an end in 2022 and so our CAHPO (Chief Allied Health Professionals Officer) is now starting a consultation period for its successor.

The aim is for the content to be crowed sourced from both professionals and ‘citizens’ and will be split into 3 sections to allow views to be sourced from all parties

The first group ‘citizen’s’ can register now to have there say at the AHPListens website please share this link amongst colleagues, patients, family and friends.

Prosthetists and Orthotists can also sign up to the first national conversation in their capacity as citizens who also use health care services but the second conversation in may will be aimed at capturing your views as a professional

For more information see the attached covering letter from the campaign:

AHPsListen-Covering-LetterDownload

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MHRA Updates: BAPO Guidance on MDR regulations post Brexit

The Medical and Health care products Regulatory Agency MHRA published an update on the UK.Gov website at the end of December 2020 ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-house- manufacture-of-medical-devices/in-house-manufacture-of-medical-devices ) concerning in-house manufacture of medical devices and exemptions from the Medical Devices Regulations (MDR). There has been some discussion as to what, if any, exemptions are applicable for prosthetics and orthotics.

There is a line in the text of the update that reads: These regulations don’t apply if your device is only being used for patients within the institute it was made, even if the product is made in one part of a healthcare establishment. For example, if it is made in an NHS Trust laboratory and moved to another part of the hospital, as this means you are not placing it on the market (GOV.UK, 2020).

BAPO have been in direct discussion with the MHRA to clarify if this meant the exemption only applied whilst the patient wearing the device was on the premises of the healthcare establishment and not when the patient had left the establishment. i.e. only whilst they were an in-patient and once they were discharged to out-patient care the exemption ceased.

The answer we got was concise and unambiguous: “We can confirm that the in house exemption for medical devices manufactured by in-house units and supplied to patients within the same healthcare institutions applies to both in-patients and out-patients.” Once devices are placed on the market or transferred to another establishment (a transfer refers to a sale, loan, hire, lease, gift, or any other type of legal transfer), the exemption no longer applies. Should the patient move to another healthcare establishment, the onus for taking on responsibility of the second-hand device is on the receiving establishment. The receiving establishment would need assurance that the product was manufactured to the appropriate requirements. The original manufacturer will have the records in place to show that the product was manufactured to the appropriate requirements. In–House manufacturing units should have a quality manufacturing system in place regardless of this exemption.
This exemption does NOT mean that these in-house units should not have a Quality Management System in place. For patient safety, they should be closely aligned with the MDR regulations, e.g. technical data provided, device types, process systems, traceability records, CE component batch/lot number recorded etc.

If further information is required BAPO recommends departments contact the MHRA direct. Contact details for queries specific to medical devices devices.regulatory@mhra.gov.uk and for general enquiries info@mhra.gov.uk

Reference
GOV.UK. (2020, December 31). In-house manufacture of medical devices in Great Britain. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from http://www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-house-manufacture-of-medical-devices/in-house-manufacture-of-medical-devices

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New position statement for children’s services

We would like to draw attention to the need for prosthetic and orthotic intervention to continue for children and young people. We ask that prosthetic and orthotic services are protected to enable this aspect of the service to continue throughout the pandemic and ensuing winter pressures.

The impact of COVID-19 on children and young people, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), has been significant. Access to prosthetic and orthotic services in the UK is vital in supporting children’s physical health, mental health and development. With orthotics, access to timely treatment ensures the effectiveness of some therapy treatment which relies on orthotic intervention for optimum results. It is important that children have access to prosthetic treatment to ensure that the prosthetic devices they use for daily activities are revised appropriately to prevent mobility issues and potential physical damage due to ill fitting devices.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we need to protect families, children and young people who rely on prosthetic and orthotic treatment as an adjunct to surgery, medical intervention, serial casting or therapy treatment, to be able to function at their best. Children are growing, conditions changing constantly and with targeted input from our services when they are required, long term disability and harm can be avoided.

We therefore ask that services remain open and an appropriate number of Prosthetists and Orthotists are protected from redeployment, to ensure that families with children and young people, have access to the support they sorely need.

We recognise the need for flexibility in areas where acute pressures are high, where individual discussions may be appropriate, however, we ask that the impact of the lack of access to prosthetic and orthotic services are discussed and understood from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Prosthetic and orthotic services should not be left without the staff or facilities to deliver essential treatment as occurred earlier in 2020.

British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists

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Feedback Survey

As a volunteer-run organization serving the prosthetic and orthotic community, we actively use feedback to improve our membership program.

If you can spare ten minutes for a quick survey we’d love to get your thoughts and ideas to help us make BAPO better. You do not have to be a member to complete this

Click here to take part:  https://baposurvey.typeform.com/to/j5Gsbh6c

Thank you for your time and input.

The Team at BAPO

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Clear Your Head

Winter during a pandemic can be hard and everyone can struggle with their mental health at times like this.

It is ok not to feel yourself but there are hints and tips that can make life easier and help with mental health

NHS Scotland are running a Fab campaign called ‘Clear your Head’ which has all sorts of tips to help people feel more like themselves.

To find out more click here

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Prosthetist Profiled

BAPO loves to share what our members have been doing, especially when they have been featured in articles and publications. Clinical Lead for the Isle of White, and BAPO member Carol Mabey; has had a lovely interview published discussing the challenges of a prosthetic service during lockdown. To read the article click here

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AGM

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists is scheduled to take place virtually on Thursday 18 March 2021 at 7pm. The Executive Committee invites all members to attend this meeting.

Agenda items are requested from all members of the Association and should be submitted in writing, no later than 11 February 2021 to the Secretariat. This will provide time for a detailed answer from the EC and membership during the AGM and will be answered even if you are unable to attend. A submitted question may be read by the member raising the issue or a member of the EC if preferred by the questioner. Where necessary, all Agenda items will be voted upon in the AGM. If any member not able to attend wishes to make representations to the AGM regarding an Agenda item, they may do so in writing up to 10 days before the meeting.


Non-Agenda questions raised in the AGM which, after discussion develop into voting issues, may be voted on in the AGM or, depending on their importance, may be placed before the whole membership with supporting information from the AGM. The EC under the Chair will decide if a vote must be placed before the whole membership or may be voted upon in the AGM.

Past AGMs have provided a time for constructive discussion of key issues concerning BAPO members and the EC hope that this AGM will be no exception.

There will be 10 Full & 2 Associate vacant seats at the time of the AGM.

Nominations for all available places require a proposer and seconder: if you would like to be considered for election please complete the Nomination Form and return together with a 100 word profile, to the Secretariat Manager no later than 11 February 2021.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course and hope you are able to attend the meeting.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Spiller
Secretary

Return Email/Post: enquiries@bapo.com
BAPO Secretariat, Unit 3011, Mile End Mill, Abbey Mill Business Centre, Paisley, Renfrewshire PA1 1JS

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Access to Vaccinations

 

BAPO have made a statement across all the home nations on their stance regarding the new Covid-19 vaccination. The statement is below

The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO) is the professional body representing clinicians working in our field in the UK.

Prosthetist/orthotists are one of 14 Allied Health Professions (AHPs) providing key frontline services in the NHS. They work in many different environments from emergency care to rehabilitation, primary care to schools. Prosthetist/orthotists work with people of all ages and our roles require face to face intervention often with the most vulnerable of society.

Prosthetist/orthotists provide a clinical service to local trusts. They also travel between multiple clinic locations to support wider services such as vascular, diabetic care, paediatrics, elderly care and between different trusts.

Prosthetist/orthotists are either employed directly by the NHS or are subcontracted to provide NHS clinical services as their full-time role.  Due to our small numbers, these key AHPs, working within the NHS directly with patients, can be excluded or forgotten when it comes to national initiatives such as vaccinations for front line staff.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that the first priorities for the current COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems (30th Dec 2020).

It is imperative that ALL AHP’s, including contracted Prosthetist/orthotists are included in all local vaccination plans for COVID-19 protection. Therefore, all NHS providers should ensure that Prosthetist/orthotists working within their organisation are recognised as frontline patient facing staff and are entitled to vaccination in line with national set priorities. This action will protect the staff concerned, NHS service providers and their patients, whilst ensuring that vital prosthetic and orthotic services are maintained.

We are therefore looking to NHS providers to protect our members, the patients they treat and NHS colleagues they work with.

Regarding the stance in England BAPO has received assurance from the Deputy Chief AHP Officer for England that the current national vaccination plans are to apply to ALL frontline health and care professionals, wherever they work and whoever employs them.