Helping patients return home from hospital sooner

2 March 2026

Bedside device gives hope to patient told he’d never walk again.

“After receiving that terrible prognosis, you can imagine what it was like for both of us. I mean, it was horrendous.”

When Judy Tomkins’ husband Rob developed a serious infection after a partial knee replacement, he spent months in hospital and was told he might never walk again. Weeks in bed had drained his strength. Even sitting upright was hard.

Six months later, Rob was offered the chance to try an S-Press device as part of a clinical trial. Designed for patients who are too weak to stand, it provides progressive leg-strengthening exercise from a bed, chair or wheelchair. Even very frail people can begin rebuilding muscle safely.

“I noticed an improvement within about seven days,” Judy said. “He couldn’t press it at all to start with, but he was determined he wasn’t going to lose his ability to walk.”

Six weeks later, Rob walked out of hospital with some help from a wheeled frame and his beaming wife Judy by his side. For Judy, the device offered more than exercise. It offered hope.

“He wanted to get back to doing all the things he loved,” she said. “The S-Press gave him the motivation to keep going.”

Close-up of the controls on an S-Press machine

The resistance on the S-Press can be adjusted using these controls. Credit: UKRI

Patient-centred innovation

The S-Press was invented by Sheffield-based physiotherapist Jennifer Turner after more than 22 years working in NHS rehabilitation. Much of her work focused on older patients who arrived from acute wards severely weakened by illness and long periods in bed.

“I became incredibly frustrated by patients arriving so deconditioned they couldn’t even stand,” she said. “There was nothing in the UK they could use in bed to rebuild their strength.”

One moment stayed with her.

While helping a patient exercise on a hospital bed, she used her own shoulder as resistance for the patient’s leg. The patient noted that while the exercise was good for them, they worried about Jennifer’s shoulder and asked if there might be a better way.

Jennifer began sketching ideas that evening.

She imagined a simple, portable resistance device that could be used safely from a bed, chair or wheelchair. Patients would be able to see their progress through different resistance levels, building confidence alongside muscle strength.

Jennifer had never planned to become an inventor. She was a clinician who liked fixing problems. But she spent the next decade refining prototypes, testing designs and learning about manufacturing and regulation.

It gave him hope. And when you’re lying in a hospital bed wondering if you’ll ever walk again, hope means everything.

Judy Tomkins

Forged in Sheffield

Sheffield played a central role in that journey. Jennifer has lived in the city since 2007 and developed the concept through focus groups, design reviews and trials with clinicians and researchers across the region.

Researchers at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre and academics from Sheffield Hallam University supported clinical trials and data analysis.

Jennifer also worked with the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in long term conditions (Devices for Dignity), hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

Their advice shaped the design of key components and helped ensure the device was safe, practical and comfortable for vulnerable patients.

“It was never just my idea,” Jennifer said. “It grew out of conversations with clinicians, researchers and patients who knew what was missing.”

In 2021 Jennifer’s work on the S-Press was recognised when she received support from Innovate UK after being named a winner in the Yorkshire and Humber category of its Women in Innovation awards.

Jen Turner demonstrating the S-Press. Credit: UKRI

Small movements, big differences

When patients spend weeks confined to a hospital bed, muscle can waste quickly. Weakness makes standing harder, delays rehabilitation and increases risks such as infections or blood clots. Many patients lose confidence as well as strength.

The S-Press aims to change that. It allows patients to start gentle, progressive resistance exercise early, even before they can stand. Adjustable resistance levels help them see improvement day by day, which can motivate them to keep going.

Jennifer says that sense of agency matters: patients who can track their progress are more likely to engage with rehabilitation and believe recovery is possible.

For hospitals and care teams, earlier movement can also mean shorter stays and fewer complications linked to immobility. Physiotherapists can spend more time with complex cases while other patients continue safe exercise independently.

But Jennifer emphasises that the device is not a replacement for physiotherapy. It is a tool that helps patients begin the long journey back to independence.

Hope at the bedside

For Judy Tomkins, the impact was personal. She watched her husband regain strength rep by rep, week by week. Progress that once seemed impossible became visible.

Rob has since died, but Judy remains grateful for the chance he had to recover some independence.

“It gave him hope,” she said. “And when you’re lying in a hospital bed wondering if you’ll ever walk again, hope means everything.”

Jennifer still hears stories like Rob’s from clinicians and families. Each one reminds her why she began.

Her aim is simple. That more patients can begin rebuilding strength earlier, feel progress sooner and return home with dignity.

About UKRI

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invests taxpayers’ money into groundbreaking research and innovation to improve the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere. It creates impact locally and around the world, in areas from cancer treatments to clean oceans.