THE Daily Echo can today expose a NHS funding loophole which is depriving some of the South's disabled youngsters of the chance of a normal life.

And today we are launching a campaign demanding a fairer deal for the region's young amputees.

We want a change in government rules to allow cash already earmarked for children on the NHS to be released so they can buy upgraded artificial limbs.

The drive is called Make A Difference, or MAD because that's what we think of the current system.

And it has the backing of cross-party MPs, the families of young amputees and disabled groups.

At present, youngsters who have lost their legs or arms can struggle to cope with ill-fitting and unsuitable artificial limbs on the NHS.

Their parents' only alternative is to meet the whole cost of private treatment out of their own pocket or through fundraising.

And as the child grows, a new fitting is needed regularly so the bill soars.

Currently, wheelchair users can receive the equivalent price of a standard NHS chair towards a more expensive model of their choice.

But there are no plans to extend the government's wheelchair scheme - which saw £81,000 of Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority funds being spent on private chairs last year - to people with artificial limbs.

Hampshire health authorities spend about £1,500 on each of five children to provide them with an average of three NHS limbs every year.

The bravery of three of these young amputees, featured in Daily Echo, has touched readers' hearts.

They are: Laura Giddings, the nine-year-old New Forest girl who lost her leg in a bomb blast in South Africa, Justin Gregory, seven, whose Southampton family raised £2,450 for a private leg to let him play football through an Echo campaign and Hannah Ridout, four, whose mother Sally Doughty is still trying to collect cash to go private.

Their families and Hampshire MPs are demanding changes to NHS guidelines so that funds which are already set aside for them can be spent on privately-made artificial limbs.

Laura's father Tony Giddings, from Bramshaw, said: "The Department of Health should issue very clear guidelines that this money can be used elsewhere."

And Jeanette Gregory, of Cumbrian Way, Millbrook, added: "We will not go back to the kind of leg Justin had before. He is a changed child thanks to his private limb."

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We want as many readers as possible who believe our campaign is worthwhile to ring us on a 24-hour answerphone number, which is manned during the day at our Southampton city office.

If you agree that what we are doing is right, please call 01703 337757 and leave your name and address.

Or write to your MP demanding he puts pressure on the Department of Health to change its rules.

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