Dudley MP delivers physiotherapy help to Ukraine

An MP has led a first of its kind visit to provide physiotherapist training in Ukraine.

Sonia Kumar won the Dudley seat for Labour at the 2024 general election, but is also a practising NHS physiotherapist.

She organised the trip after a visit in September in which she said she was moved by the resilience and bravery of injured Ukrainian soldiers.

Last month President Zelensky said 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield with many more injured, but according to other sources the number could be has high as 200,000.

After a long journey on a "rickety train", Kumar said she had helped to deliver training to 25 clinicians to deal with injuries sustained during the conflict.

She said she had been looking for back injuries, neurological deficits, shoulder injuries, ankle sprains and other injuries you might see in the UK.

But she explained that the situation was very different for people who were serving on the front line.

"If you have an ankle injury and that balloons up, how do you manage that quickly and get someone back to fighting?" she asked.

She added that some of the patients she had spoken to had brain injuries or limb amputations, but told her: "I would do it again."

Kumar said she was having conversations about what more the UK could do to support health professionals in Ukraine.

"Mental support is just as needed, because its entwined, it's hand in hand, but they were saying to me they also want practical support," she added.

She said healthcare staff in Ukraine told her that instead of sympathy, they needed skills, partnerships and practical support.

Describing the visit as "what international cooperation looks like at its best," she said she hoped it would be the start of a long-term partnership between British and Ukrainian healthcare teams.

"Because even in the shadow of war, collaboration like this can help rebuild lives."

The training involving Kumar took place at the Institute of Vertebrology and Rehabilitation in Kyiv and was delivered in partnership with the Patients of Ukraine Charitable Foundation.

Tanisha Sandhu, one of the UK physiotherapists delivering the programme, said: "The injuries clinicians are dealing with here are incredibly complex.

"If we can share techniques that improve recovery or reduce pain - that can make a huge difference to someone's life."

Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Health Yevheniy Honchar said: "Rehabilitation is really our key priority because we have huge demand in Ukraine because of the war."

Thanking the visiting party, he added: "It's really important to improve the skill and knowledge with well recognised experts from Great Britain."

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