S-Press: Bringing progressive rehabilitation to the bedside
Find out how the S-Press can integrate into real-world care to enable safer, more accessible rehabilitation across diverse clinical settings.
Led by Jen Turner, founder of JT Rehab, S-Press is helping physiotherapy teams to accelerate patient recovery by enabling safe, progressive leg strengthening at the bedside. This aims to support early rehabilitation for vulnerable patients, enhance engagement, and reduce deconditioning, delays in discharge, and complications.
What is S-Press and what problem does it solve?
S-Press is a portable, clinician-led leg strengthening device designed to bring effective progressive resistance exercise (PRE) directly to patients at the bedside, in a chair or a wheelchair. The device is lightweight, simple to use, and fully human-powered, eliminating the need for electrical infrastructure while enabling safe, scalable rehabilitation across varied care settings. With seven adjustable resistance levels and pressure-relieving support surfaces, S-Press is inclusive for patients with fragile skin, pressure ulcers, or complex conditions.
Hospital-acquired deconditioning can begin within days, leading to significant loss of muscle strength, reduced mobility, and delayed discharge. Many patients are unable to access traditional physiotherapy due to illness severity or physical limitations. S-Press addresses this critical gap, enabling early, consistent rehabilitation for even the most vulnerable patients.
Clinically proven to improve muscle strength and functional outcomes, S-Press also enhances patient engagement, supporting faster recovery and more efficient use of healthcare resources.
“The S-Press portable leg strengthening device has been designed by myself, a physiotherapist, to improve access to safe and effective PRE for bed or chair bound patients. It improves their physical and psychological outcomes and eases workload for physiotherapists.”
“The S-Press portable leg strengthening device has been designed by myself, a physiotherapist, to improve access to safe and effective PRE for bed or chair bound patients. It improves their physical and psychological outcomes and eases workload for physiotherapists.”
What was your inspiration and motivation?
Jen developed the S-Press from a deep commitment to improving patient outcomes and addressing a long-standing gap in rehabilitation practice. As a physiotherapist, she repeatedly encountered patients – often the most complex and vulnerable – who could not access effective, therapeutic-level leg strengthening due to limited or unsuitable equipment.
Driven by strong values and a desire to create meaningful impact across the NHS, Jen combined clinical insight with collaborative innovation. She engaged extensively with patients, clinicians, engineers, and healthcare leaders to co-develop a device that truly meets user needs. Support from organisations such as Design Council, Versus Arthritis, NIHR, and Innovate UK strengthened the concept and accelerated development.
For years she was frustrated at the lack of effective, proven therapeutic level and accessible leg strengthening equipment available to use with our most complex patients. As nothing was changing, she decided she had to do something herself .
“The equipment we needed did not exist, so I invented what we needed myself. I knew I had the drive and passion to make it happen and the key values, and determination to have a wider positive impact on the NHS and its patients.”
Jennifer Turner, Founder & Director, JT Rehab
Why did you become a fellow?
Jen’s journey to becoming an NIA fellow stems from 22 years as an NHS physiotherapist. Driven by a commitment to improve outcomes, she spent nine years as a sole founder advancing the innovation through research, prototyping, clinical evaluation, and NHS engagement, alongside a diagnosis of young onset Parkinson’s disease.
As part of the 2026 cohort, Jen is being offered the networks, mentorship, and scale needed to expand adoption and maximise patient benefit.
Becoming an NIA Fellow has been a defining milestone in this journey. It reflects not only the maturity and NHS traction of the innovation, but also its potential for wider impact. For Jen, the fellowship brings invaluable credibility, connection, and support – through mentors, peers, and industry insight – enabling continued growth. It represents both recognition of past effort and a powerful platform to accelerate meaningful change for patients and the NHS.
“The credibility that being an NIA Fellow brings to an individual, and their product is the genuine pinnacle for an entrepreneur/ founder who had spent years developing a product designed to help the patients in the NHS and to help the NHS system overall.”
Looking ahead
Jen’s hope for S‑Press is to establish a strong, mutually beneficial partnership with MedFac that supports sustainable growth and access. Her key ambition is to identify effective market entry points, enabling widespread adoption across NHS settings where patients most need support.
By expanding access to safe, progressive resistance exercise, S‑Press aims to improve both physical and psychological outcomes, particularly for those unable to engage in traditional physiotherapy.
Ultimately, the ambition is to transform rehabilitation for vulnerable patients, ensuring more equitable access to high-quality physiotherapy and empowering patients to take an active role in their recovery journey.
“The aim is to embed the S‑Press into routine care, supporting earlier recovery, reducing delayed discharges, and easing clinician workload.”
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