Ability Matters Group

Did you know...

April is Limb Loss & Limb Difference Awareness Month 🦿 🦾 when UK charities and organisations join forces to spread the word about limb loss and limb difference and the impact it has on individual, their families and support networks.

Head over to the Limb Loss & Limb Difference website to find out how you can help:
https://buff.ly/3H5mvgz

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Limb Loss & Limb Difference   Together we can do moreUK charities and support groups joining forces to raise awareness of limb loss and limb difference.    April is Limb Loss & Limb Difference Awareness Month.It’s time to spread the word about limb loss and limb difference to empower those within our communities. During A...

When a patient came to Crispin Orthotics Ltd with Kyphosis of the cervical region due to discitis, which resulted in him having to hold his own head up, we developed the Neuro Collar using our technology. Suffering from a significant amount of pain and fatigue and after trying a few devices that did not sort the issues he now enjoys his previously active lifestyle with ease and comfort! So proud that our products make a difference! Read more 👉 http://bit.ly/3KdRs69

FREE Webinar! Are you joining us? ➡️ https://buff.ly/3yUG9Jv 📆28 March 08:00 and 16:00 GMT

The Crispin 3D Additive Orthoses team will take a deep dive into our low-profile custom-made orthoses designed for excellent patient comfort, guaranteed effectiveness and a perfect fit.
✅ lightweight and environmentally friendly
✅ can even be modified after creation;
✅ highly aesthetic with unique designs, from block colours to hydrographic finishes

Don't miss this! Register now!

Curious as to how 3D Printing is transforming orthotics?
Don’t miss this 45-minute FREE webinar with our colleagues at Crispin Orthotics➡️ https://buff.ly/3ZMktuU
Learn about:
👉our low-profile custom-made orthoses, designed for both excellent patient comfort and guaranteed effectiveness;
👉the manufacturing materials used for creating the perfect fit;
👉the advantages of a lightweight and environmentally friendly product that can even be modified after creation;
👉our unique designs, from block colours to hydrographic finishes, that make the Crispin range some of the most aesthetic orthotic devices available.
Register now to hear from Ian Sanders and Doug Young and discover how 3D printed, dimensionally exact and perfectly repeatable custom-made orthoses are revolutionising orthotics!

Dominic Hannett, our Opcare Director of Clinical Services, is currently training hard for the upcoming 🏃‍♂️

Dominic participates in a fundraising event every year, and this year is raising funds for Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, the military charity for limbless veterans, in what will be his first formal marathon!

And he's set his sights on completing it in 3 hours 30 minutes! 🚀

You can track Dominc's progress and make a donation to BLESMA on his official London Marathon blog, here:

https://lnkd.in/et6mwYhw

Today is and to celebrate we are delighted to announce that Opcare's Sophie Mitchell has been nominated for:

🌟 Rising Star Award at The Advancing Healthcare Awards 2023.

🌟 Sophie is the Deputy Lead of Orthotics at the Opcare Coventry clinic and is also the lead for Paediatrics.

🌟 The Rising Star Award recognises all AHPs and clinical scientists who have been qualified less than 5 years. It’s a huge achievement for Sophie, she’s a fantastic asset to the team and we are all so very proud of her.

🌟 Good luck Sophie!

Today is and we are proud of our teams for constantly striving to achieve more.

The Opcare Roehampton team recently had some Clinician Training on our various 3D printing and scanning techniques, led by our Crispin Orthotics Ltd clinical support team Ian Sanders and Douglas Young.

Sometimes it's the smallest acts that make the most impact on people. We love being kind and today on Random Acts of Kindness Day we thought we'd share some stories from our Opcare clinics:

Our Graduate P&O Laura Paton took time out of her clinical diary to go to the aid of a patient who was having car trouble, helping him jump-start his car so he could get to a local garage!

Manchester Orthotist Dawn Bryant helped a young boy when the straps on his AFOs broke, meaning he would be unable to attend school. Dawn stayed late after clinic to sew and repair the straps by hand, so the AFOs didn’t need to be sent to the factory and the young boy could attend school the next day.

A member of our Leicester clinic was surprised by a colleague with boxes of Maltesers just for helping out with some IT tasks!
What will you do to positively impact someone today?

We had a great time this morning hosting a tea and cake morning in aid of LimbPower's AmpuTEA FeBREWary fundraising campaign.

LimbPower is a small charity which supports amputees and individuals with limb impairments in physical activity, sport and the arts to improve quality of life and to aid lifelong rehabilitation. For the month of February, they are asking amputees, people with limb impairments, healthcare professionals, families and friends to host their own Tea Morning or Afternoon Tea to raise much needed funds to support their work. We were proud to help!

AmpuTEA FeBREWary - we're taking part. Are you?

LimbPower

Congratulations to Team Bits Missing on their achievements at the Open Water Swimming 2022 WOWSA Awards:

Para Performance of the Year: 3rd place
Performance of the Year: 2nd place

This is great for the team to be recognised at such a prestigious level.

To find out more click here: https://www.openwaterswimming.com/open-water-swimming-community-honors-its-best-at-2022-wowsa-awards/

In case you didn't know: Team Bits Missing is an unprecedented channel swimming relay that completed a 35 km North Channel crossing by above-knee amputee Catherine Sunley of England, above-knee amputee David Burke of Northern Ireland, above-knee amputee Andrew Smith of England, above-knee amputee Mary Clewlow-Self of Wales, and above-knee amputee Jonty Warneken of England in 15 hours 8 minutes.

It’s encouraging to see that have unveiled their first doll with scoliosis, raising awareness of spinal issues and promoting inclusion and understanding. Named Chelsea, she has curvature of the spine and has a removable back brace, representing so many children who struggle with these issues every day. Representation matters and we are thrilled to see such big companies leading the way when it comes to helping create more inclusive toy options for children. Well done, Barbie ! We love it 😍

Yesterday was a day to remember! We had all of our centre managers and national operations managers together in Oxford for a training and development session, where we discussed communications strategies and operational performance. 📚

Fantastic to have representatives of all our clinical services in the same building! Looking forward to the next one!

We are thrilled to recognize our Sophie Baldwin from Ortho Europe (part of the Ability Matters Group) for winning a 'Making a Difference' award. 🎉 Her passion, hard work, and dedication to increasing the accuracy of our Birmingham site’s stock levels was outstanding! Sophie’s creation of a stringent booking in and out system is a testament to her commitment to going the extra mile. We are incredibly proud of her achievement - congratulations Sophie!

Meet Lenny ❤️

Lenny was born with two toes missing on his right foot, making it narrower and slightly shorter in length to his left foot.

After he was born, Lenny was referred to Opcare, part of the Ability Matters Group, before he started walking as his Mum & Dad weren't sure if it would affect his balance and if he would need help with this in the aid of some special shoes.

Amazingly though, when Lenny started to walk his balance was absolutely fine, so now he can wear normal kids shoes with the help of a shoe insert to fill out his right shoe.

We are thrilled that we have once again been able to support the charity “Our Support 4 Ukraine”, by donating unused prosthetic and orthotic products that will be sent to help those affected by the conflict. To date the charity has delivered 92 lorries with humanitarian aid to most of the cities in Ukraine to get critical care to those who need it the most.

Congratulations to Team Bits missing who have been nominated for the World Open Water Swimming Association ( Wowsa ) awards.

Not just one but two nominations! Performance of the year and in the Para Section.

The nominations have come from 60 different countries and they don't get much bigger than these awards!

You can vote for Team Bits Missing here: https://www.openwaterswimming.com/wowsa-awards-2022-vote/

Last year, the team at Opcare took part in many educational events such as the Regional Amputee Study Day at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast.

Led by Opcare Prosthetist Mark Currie (Psychologist, Consultant and Physiotherapist) where professionals who care for amputee patients received valuable insights and advice on improving the quality of the care they provide from experts in the field.

Investing in the training and education of valued staff is our mission.

Ability Matters Group and Opcare are pleased to announce that our commitment to this investment continues in 2023!

Happy New Year from the Ability Matters family!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from the entire team at Ability Matters.

It's been an exciting year for Ability Matters Group as we welcomed ProActive Prosthetics and Crispin Orthotics to the family. We can't wait to see what 2023 brings!

#2022 #2023

Many people are affected by medical conditions such as , and that can create symptoms in their feet, ankles, knees and other parts of their bodies. Quite often these conditions can be painful and make everyday tasks more difficult. Using Orthotics can help.

At Crispin Orthotics, part of the Ability Matters Group, they work with and private patients throughout the UK. Their expertise in biomechanics enables them to create orthotic devices that can prevent, correct or relieve symptoms. Every patient has an individual condition that requires an individual solution which is why their orthotics service covers everything from assessment and fitting to aftercare.

To find out more about Crispin Orthotics, head over to their website:
https://www.crispinorthotics.com/

Great to see our teams around the world attending conferences and showcasing our products and services:

Nordic Ortopedica recently attended the NITO conference in Trondheim, Norway. Our clinical experts, Saga Tortela and Elin Börjesson, were on hand to discuss the full product range and talk about some of our new products, Quattro microprocessorknee and the TruSeal sealing liner.



Nordic Ortopedica at NITO konferens i Trondhiem, Norge, där du kunde hitta både våra kliniska experter Saga Tortela och Elin Börjesson samt våra nyheter såsom mikroprocessorknät Quattro och TruSeal sealing liner.

Learn more about Nordic Ortopedica here: https://www.nordicortopedica.se/

We are pleased to share that the Team Bits Missing won the performance of the year award at the recent Irish Long Distance Swimming Association awards.

On behalf of us all thanks for getting behind us and sponsoring the team.

Well done to everyone involved, a great performance and well deserved award.

Find out more: https://opcare.co.uk/team-bits-missing/

Opcare is the largest provider of prosthetic services to the NHS in the UK and also a major provider of orthotics, posture and mobility services. Services involve the assessment, design, manufacture and fitting of artificial limbs.

Part of the Ability Matters Group, was founded in 1989, Opcare now delivers over 60 clinical services across the UK, and we are proud to provide care for more than 100,000 people.

To find out more, head over to their new website: www.opcare.co.uk

The Opcare Exeter team recently held a MDT (Multi-Disciplinary Team) afternoon alongside the Vascular Surgeons from Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital and ran presentations on the followingtopics:

✅ An overview of prosthetics + what prosthetists do.
✅ The primary patient pathway (the pathway that a new patient would follow).
✅ Trans-femoral vs Knee Disarticulation amputees.
✅ A review of amputation levels pre- and post- Covid19.

We continue to strengthen our partnerhip with the and support MDTs.

This week Ortho Europe will be attending

Part of the Ability Matters Group, Ortho Europe is a leading manufacturer and distributor of prosthetic, orthotic and seating products.

Established in 1990 with a single office in Oxford, UK, Ortho Europe has grown steadily to encompass multiple manufacturing facilities across the UK and Europe and sales offices in France, the Netherlands and Sweden, plus a network of European distributors.

Keep up to date with the latest news and goings on in and around the Ability Matters Group.

Our brands include Opcare, ProActive Prosthetics and Ortho Europe to name just a few.

Head over to our website to check out what we've been up to:
➡️ https://www.abilitymatters.com/latest-news/