The prosthetic service in the UK

Abstract

Before 1914, the number of amputees in the UK was small and the surgical mortality rate high. Those who survived amputation generally become mobile using crutches and few had artificial limbs as they could not afford to buy them. During the First World War (1914–1918) a 25 bedded hospital was opened for war amputees. This was in a converted Queen Anne mansion known as Roehampton House in London. Queen Mary was patron and the hospital became known as one of ‘Queen Mary’s Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals’ for limbless soldiers and sailors. Other similar centres also opened at this time throughout the country but as the artificial limb suppliers were not located near to the hospital, amputees who needed limbs visited these craftsmen in their limb shops. With the influx of amputees during the war, these shops gradually moved into the grounds at Roehampton and the other centres to be nearer the patients.