“Walkerbot” Lokomat appeal nominated for Best NHS Charity Campaign

Huge congratulations to University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity, who have been nominated for Best NHS Charity Campaign at the NHS Communicate Awards 2022!

Their “Walkerbot Campaign” successfully fundraised to purchase the Hocoma Lokomat for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital Acute Stroke Unit in 2021.

Over 720 people are admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital each year with stroke, and 75% of these have lower limb weakness. But the brain can adapt and people can relearn to walk through repetition and practice.

Investing in state-of-the-art rehabilitation technology in acute stroke units, like the Hocoma Lokomat, enables the intensive gait training that severely impaired patients require to relearn how to walk again – even those who can’t move their lower limbs at all.

Congratulations and best of luck to all those who have been nominated!

About the campaign

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity successfully raised funds to purchase the Hocoma LokomatPro robotic gait trainer during the Covid-19 pandemic with their “Walkerbot Campaign”, which included the equipment and installation of the device, as well as changes to room infrastructure.

The charity’s appeal was supported by countless generous donations from charitable organisations, local businesses, and individuals who hosted coffee mornings, ran marathons and even parachuted out of planes. Former AFC Bournemouth player Steve Fletcher also joined the campaign to launch fundraising efforts.

Dr Louise Johnson, Consultant Therapist at University Hospitals Dorset, said during the campaign’s celebration event:

“We identified [the Lokomat] as something that we wanted to provide within our stroke service because we know it’s got a really strong evidence base. We know it works for people with stroke, it’s recommended in our national guidelines for stroke, yet as far as we were aware, no stroke services in the UK offer patients access to this kind of service. So we wanted to do something about that and be one of the first to be able to offer patients access to such incredible technology. It is really exciting for staff to be able to work in a service that is able to offer the most up-to-date technology so we are really excited about being trained how to use [the Lokomat], to be able to offer that to patients who access our services and get the best outcomes for our patients. 

So for patients who are unable to walk after a stroke or patients whose legs have been affected by the stroke, [the Lokomat] will give them the opportunity to practice really high repetitions within their rehabilitation. So at the moment, we would support patients to relearn how to sit and stand and step if they’re able to. But we can only do that at quite low intensity, and the use of robotics enables us to do that at much higher intensity, which we know has an impact on people’s recovery and ultimately their outcomes.”

About the Lokomat

The LokomatPro is a robotic-assisted therapy device for highly intensive physiological gait rehabilitation for severely impaired patients.

The Lokomat uses an individually adjustable exoskeleton combined with dynamic body weight support, with adjustable hip and knee joint angles to tailor the device to a patient’s specific needs during training. Customisable and versatile, the Lokomat can train a wide range of patients to develop a healthy physiological gait pattern – even those with severe disabilities.

The Lokomat allows therapists to focus on delivering high-quality therapy for patients, rather than be limited by the strain of traditional gait therapy. It enhances staff efficiency and safety, which leads to higher training intensity, more treatments per therapist, and consistent, superior patient care.

The Lokomat was developed by Swiss rehabilitation technology company Hocoma, and is supplied in the UK by Summit Medical and Scientific.

Contact us

Get in touch with Summit Medical and Scientific today to find out more about incorporating state-of-the-art rehabilitation technology into your practice. Contact us via email at info@summitmedsci.co.uk or call 01372 3459863. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.