IS IT COS I IS BLACK?....ER, NO ACTUALLY
The BBC is reporting today that a black woman due to have a foot amputated was told she would be given a white prosthetic replacement because it is cheaper:
BBC News: Black patient offered white limb
The story was originally reported -- with predictable tabloid sensationalism -- in the Mirror:
The Mirror: BLACK AMPUTEE TOLD: WE ONLY DO FEET IN PINK
Before the NHS is accused of thoughtless racism, here are the facts.
At the moment, only very limited funding is available on the NHS for life-like silicone coverings for artificial limbs, such as those made by Dorset Orthopaedics. (Read a memo on NHS provision of silicone cosmesis here.) The reason is that they're much more expensive than less cosmetically acceptable foam or plastic coverings (although I'm surprised the cheaper covers aren't available in darker skin tones.)
Therefore most people, regardless of race, have to pay for more life-like artificial limbs. It's still too early in my rehab for me to have one yet, but when I do (probably in a year or so) it'll cost me somewhere in the region of £7,000.
Ms Nicholls, then, is only facing the same funding problems that most amputees across the country encounter.
Obviously I'm white but my current prosthesis -- and the one now being made for me -- bears only a passing resemblance to my actual skin colour. It might as well be brown, yellow or cyan, because it sure as hell doesn't look real. I was told very early on by my prosthetist that if I wanted a limb that looked realistic I'd have to pay for it.
By drawing attention to her situation Ms Nicholls has managed to shame her NHS trust into coughing up for a silicone cosmesis. Good for her. However, her story is really about health service funding -- not skin colour.
DISCUSS
The BBC is reporting today that a black woman due to have a foot amputated was told she would be given a white prosthetic replacement because it is cheaper:
BBC News: Black patient offered white limb
The story was originally reported -- with predictable tabloid sensationalism -- in the Mirror:
The Mirror: BLACK AMPUTEE TOLD: WE ONLY DO FEET IN PINK
Before the NHS is accused of thoughtless racism, here are the facts.
At the moment, only very limited funding is available on the NHS for life-like silicone coverings for artificial limbs, such as those made by Dorset Orthopaedics. (Read a memo on NHS provision of silicone cosmesis here.) The reason is that they're much more expensive than less cosmetically acceptable foam or plastic coverings (although I'm surprised the cheaper covers aren't available in darker skin tones.)
Therefore most people, regardless of race, have to pay for more life-like artificial limbs. It's still too early in my rehab for me to have one yet, but when I do (probably in a year or so) it'll cost me somewhere in the region of £7,000.
Ms Nicholls, then, is only facing the same funding problems that most amputees across the country encounter.
Obviously I'm white but my current prosthesis -- and the one now being made for me -- bears only a passing resemblance to my actual skin colour. It might as well be brown, yellow or cyan, because it sure as hell doesn't look real. I was told very early on by my prosthetist that if I wanted a limb that looked realistic I'd have to pay for it.
By drawing attention to her situation Ms Nicholls has managed to shame her NHS trust into coughing up for a silicone cosmesis. Good for her. However, her story is really about health service funding -- not skin colour.
DISCUSS
posted by Stuart at 11:43
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