Integrated & Community Services - Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (HMR) Amputee Service

Where is it?

The HMR Amputee Service is based at the Community Hub, Rochdale Infirmary. There is a weekly outpatient clinic on a Wednesday morning from 9:00am to 12:30pm in the Community Hub gym.

Who runs it?

The class is run by a team of physiotherapists, a support worker, and an admin team but we also work in collaboration with the Specialised Ability Centre Manchester (SACM). The SACM is the Northwest specialist centre for amputees.

Who is it for?

The Amputee Service supports patients following a lower limb amputation who have a GP in the Heywood, Middleton or Rochdale area. Once you have been discharged from hospital the service offers a post operative pathway suited to your level of ability, health and goals. You will be contacted by the physiotherapist once you have been discharged from hospital and your first appointment will usually be at home.

If appropriate you can progress to the outpatient amputee clinic for weekly rehabilitation. The outpatient appointments are alongside regular reviews at the SACM. However, weekly rehabilitation may not always be possible due to staffing and you will be informed if an appointment is due to be cancelled.

The Outpatient clinic is designed to: 

• Help you regain your personal functional goals and achieve maximum independence
• Assess for prosthetic use
• Provide education on monitoring and maintaining your health and wellbeing
• Provide information, advice and signposting to other support services
• Give you and your family the opportunity to meet other patients with recent/established lower limb amputations

How does it work?

This is an adult clinic with numbers of up to 8 patients. After an initial assessment you will be provided with an exercise programme to complete at home and during the clinic. You will be assigned a lead physiotherapist and receive a weekly one to one session during the clinic.

The physiotherapy staff will work with you on your individual goals which may include walking practice with an early walking aid or a prosthesis. We can also transfer your rehabilitation to your home and community environment at the appropriate time.

What should I wear? 

Please wear comfortable clothing to allow you to exercise. A pair of shorts can be useful to allow ease of fitting the early walking aid or your prosthesis. Relatives or carers do not need to routinely attend these classes. However, if you feel you would like someone there with you for support purposes, then they are welcome to attend. Please inform the physiotherapy team of this.

How do I get there?

Ambulances can be arranged through the physiotherapy department or there is patient parking on site.

Although the physiotherapy department will book transport for patients, we do not have direct influence on the pick-up/drop off times. We advise that all patients are ready to be picked up from their home address at least one hour before your appointment time.

There can sometimes be delays in pick up after the class due to the run times of the ambulance and you may find that you are sometimes waiting into the afternoon for your return journey. Please bring in a snack and a drink plus any lunch time medication in preparation for these situations.

Attendance

If you are unable to attend the clinic for any reason please ring the department on 01706 517775 and inform a member of staff as soon as possible so that transport can be cancelled accordingly. Please do not attend the clinic if you are unwell.

If you fail to attend your appointment without contacting the service you will receive a letter with another appointment to attend. If you fail to attend on a second occasion you will have 30 days to re-book an appointment. If we do not hear from you during this time you will be discharged from our service.

Refreshments  

There will be fresh water, tea, coffee and biscuits available for every patient during clinic times only. If you suffer from diabetes please ensure you always have a snack with you in view of potential delays with transport after your appointment.

Medication

If you suffer from any medical conditions where you require medication please ensure you bring this to clinic with you; for example, inhalers, insulin and GTN sprays. If you are diabetic please bring your blood glucose monitoring kits too.

We are unable to provide wound care and dressings, therefore if you have an open wound please consider if you will need to bring extra dressings to the class. You may also want to discuss timings to have your wound re-dressed with your district nurse.

Smoking

The hospital is a no smoking site and therefore we ask patients to refrain from smoking whilst on site.

Further Information 

Early walking aids

There are different early mobility aids depending on the level of your amputation. Your physiotherapist will assess if the use of an early walking aid is the right thing for you.

Potentially if you have a below knee amputation, then you will utilise the Pneumatic Post- Amputation Mobility (PPAM) aid. If you have an above knee amputation, then you will utilise the Femurett.