About the DSC

The Disablement Services Centre (DSC) is part of the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. Each year the department provides artificial limbs for about 1,500 patients, who come from a large part of southern England. It also provides an orthotic service, disability clinics, wheelchairs and equipment for patients who have complex seating problems.

The facilities at the DSC include a courtyard garden which you can relax in, a reception area that includes a children's play area, a tea / coffee bar and an information point which contains a range of useful information for users of the Centre.

The Centre is fully accessible to disabled people and people in wheelchairs.

Car parking facilities are available in the hospital grounds, but at times it is very busy so users need to allow adequate time to get to appointments. Charges are applicable. Disabled car parking spaces are also available outside the Centre. Illegal parking is subject to wheel clamping.

The DSC is open during the following times:

From humble beginnings – a brief history of the Disablement Services Centre

Moving Forward members, Linda Stanley and Mike Stoneman looks back at the history of the DSC and its role as a regional centre for artificial limbs.

The earliest limb amputations date from many thousands of years ago, back to Neanderthal man. It was not known where or when the first artificial limbs (prostheses) were manufactured but a Roman artefact of about 300 BC appears to be the oldest artificial leg unearthed. It was made of thin pieces of bronze fixed to a central wooden core with bronze nails and secured to the stump with a leather skirt. Not surprisingly, the history of artificial limbs has been closely related to the ravages of war.

The First World War created an unprecedented demand for artificial limbs by the very large number of military amputees. The sheer number of these patients soon outpaced the indigenous industry's capacity. By 1915 the UK Government had invited two major American prosthetic concerns (Rowley and Hanger) to set up subsidiaries in Roehampton, London, in the grounds of a former mansion which had been requisitioned by the Imperial War Office. This site later became Queen Mary's Hospital which remains a major centre of English prosthetic services.

Prior to any services at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, war pensioners requiring medical treatment, the fitting of artificial limbs and rehabilitation were treated at Roehampton. Unless you were able to finance your own health care, civilian patients were rarely fortunate enough to receive an artificial limb or any rehabilitation, even if they survived an amputation. Many patients were forced to manage using homemade wooden crutches with no state benefits to help support themselves and their families.

In 1916 the Ministry of Pensions was established and became responsible for the supply of artificial limbs and other items for War Pensioners. The number of limbless patients cared for during the inter-war years remained virtually constant.

Many servicemen lost limbs in the Second World War, but fewer than in the First. By 1945 there were about 45,000 War Pensioner amputees. With the passage of time the number of war limbless has declined to about 9,000, whilst the number of civilian patients has increased as a result of circulatory complaints, diabetes and other problems of old age. There are now about 59,000 lower limb patients in the United Kingdom.

A limb fitting centre was eventually established at St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth, but was a hut type building that was considered inadequate for the purpose. The service was funded through the Ministry of Pensions and treated only war pensioners in the south.

In 1948 the National Health Service (NHS) was established and 30,000 civilian patients became entitled to free artificial limbs, although the Government have undertakings that the war wounded would receive priority treatment. In 1953 the responsibility was transferred to the Health Departments (in England and Wales the Ministry of Health) and in 1968 became part of the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) which continued to manage the limbs service until 1 July 1987 when it was transferred to a newly created special health authority entitled the Disablement Services Authority (DSA).

In 1961 Portsmouth City Council approved plans for a new purpose built Artificial Limb & Appliance Centre (ALAC) to be funded by Department of Health & Social Security (DHSS). The Centre opened in 1962/63 and housed:

• fitting rooms for men and women
• an artificial eye department
• two prosthesis contractors on site - Hangers and Vessa
• facilities for visiting contractors such as Blatchfords and appliance suppliers
• a stump sock store
• a garage area containing manual wheelchairs, spinal carriages, tricycles and the infamous pale blue three wheeled single seater on the road vehicles
• wheelchair technicians offices
• a physiotherapy and walking training room
• offices for the health professionals and civil servants

On 21^st January 1993 the Disablement Services Centre was reopened by Fred Dineage following an extension to the building to accommodate the expanding DSC and a reconfiguration of the building to also incorporate GUM (Genito-Urinary Medicine).

Today the DSC is part of the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. Each year the department provides artificial limbs for about 1,500 patients (Otto Bock is the current contractor), who come from a large part of southern England. It also provides an orthotic service, disability clinics, wheelchairs and equipment for patients who have complex seating problems. The DSC also manages the Phoenix Ward which is an adult neurological rehabilitation ward.

When the DSC User Group (Moving Forward) conducted a survey of patients back in 2006, one overriding message that came through was the need to improve the Centre's facilities and decor. As a result of funds raised by Moving Forward (£20,000), additional funding from the Trust (£30,000) and a lot of hard work from staff and volunteers, that message from patients was listened to and acted upon. Moving Forward was also indebted to the support and help from HSBC who provided a cheque for £9,625 plus 25 willing volunteers over a two week period.

The improved facilities have included:

• courtyard garden 'Sheila's Garden'
• new information point – touch screen kiosk, leaflet dispensers
• new tea and coffee bar
• children's play area with new toys, wide screen tv (including a Play Station and DVDs)
• new chairs and coffee tables in the waiting area and fitting rooms
• refurbishment of the childrenÕs fitting rooms
• improved lighting and a new carpet in the waiting area
• re-design and redecoration of the Wheelchair Services Department including more clinical areas
• installation of adjustable, modern parallel bars in the gym plus new flooring, a new ramp designed by Highbury College, and additional equipment such as digital cameras, femuretts and a wide screen tv with a wii fit programme
• upgrading of the male and female toilets in order to ensure they are DDA compliant
• upgrading of the unisex toilet to include baby changing facilities
• new counselling room
• new pictures throughout the DSC including art work from Portsmouth College

Without doubt the present DSC is a vast improvement from the original hut and with the help of Moving Forward the current facilities continue to be improved. Our collective aim is to make the Disablement Services Centre at St Mary's Hospital a centre of excellence, one that we can all be proud of.

DSC information point

Despite several delays, the information point in the waiting area of the DSC has finally been opened. The information point includes a touch-screen kiosk which features several websites including the UK Limb Loss Information Centre, the DSC's User Group 'Moving Forward' website which has just gone live (see page 3), Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Portsmouth Teaching Primary Care Trust, directgov and NHS Direct. Complementing the kiosk are several leaflet dispensers and notice boards which stock a range of leaflets and notices covering prosthetics, orthortics, wheelchairs, counselling and physiotherapy, plus lots of other useful information. So if you are in the DSC waiting for an appointment why don't you take a look - you might find something you always wanted to know about but never knew where to look!

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User Group of the Disablement Services Centre, St Mary’s Hospital, Milton Road, Portsmouth, PO3 6AD
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