Public Views about NHS Wheelchair Services
Summary:
In total 53 people responded to the survey. 74% where from Bolton and 16% from Wigan and Leigh.
Almost 1/3 (11) of respondents were over 76 years of age and 6 were under 18yrs.
- 54% of people said they needed a wheelchair due to a permanent disability while 30% stated it was for long term mobility due to an accident or illness.
- The variety of wheelchair types was as varied as was the reason for an individual needing a wheelchair in the first instance. 63% said they used a standard manual wheelchair, 10% used an standard electric and 20% used a specially adapted one.
- Whilst many people could not use their wheelchairs indoors due to a lack of home adaptations 36% did use them ‘all the time’ indoors and outdoors.
- Over half the respondents (51%) said they acquired their wheelchair from the NHS wheelchair service while 28% cited they bought their own via disability grants due to frustration of waiting times.
- Whilst 52% said they did not have to wait for their wheelchair 23% said they had a wait of over 3 months and 19% waited between 1 and 3 weeks.
Conclusion:
The survey shows extremely mixed experiences of wheelchair services, some have smooth service provision and are happy with the process while others experienced a combination of long delays, unhelpful staff and process rather than people orientated driven provisions.
There are some concerns in relation to eligibility and assessment which people do not feel takes into account their individual unique circumstances and penalises those who are not entirely dependent on a wheelchair but who need one in certain circumstances; for certain activities or to access certain places.
Where there are issues in terms of assessment, delays or repairs respondents evidenced a myriad of problems it can cause including:
- A lack of general mobility
- Inability to access family and friends
- Difficulty accessing work
- Social isolation
- Pain
- Worsening health conditions
Recommendations were made to both commissioners and wheelchair services.
Downloads
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