'Bionic' peer calls for better care for amputees
Former MP Craig Mackinlay, who lost his hands and feet after a life-threatening episode of sepsis, has urged the government to end what he says is a "postcode lottery" for amputee care.
Speaking as the Paralympics gets under way in Paris, Lord Mackinlay said he wanted to use the focus on the games to push the government to do more for people who lose limbs.
The former MP for South Thanet warned that NHS prosthetics currently on offer could leave people “in a pit of despair” while the ones he paid for privately made him "feel whole again”.
The Department of Health & Social Care has been approached for a comment.
The newly-appointed peer, who will be sworn into the Lords in October, said: “We need to do better. It’s 2024.
"We put a man on the moon 55 years ago. I can’t believe we still can’t get people the right prosthetic if they want it.”
In a direct message for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Lord Mackinlay said: “if you are going to keep people alive at great expense, then please spend that final bit of money to make whatever life you have after worth living.”
Source: BBC News, 30 August 2024