Its your right. Tell them so!They've always heavily steered you towards getting one of their sh*tty chairs and create a real fight to go independent.
Yes. Do your own. Nobody knows your needs but you! Write down your needs in detail giving the reasons you need for eg Tilt or centre power footplate, or lift. These are clinical requirements, say ability to tilt/recline to shift pressure, power legs to check or get to leg bag, or because of swolen legs. Give them graphic photos. Holistic? You need it to drive a vehicle from, that means design, clearance for head getting in, seat height and swing away controls, enough ground clearance. Adjustable seat height to reach chairs, beds to be able to transfer. etc etc.Do you have any suggestions for the best way to get a full and accurate assessment for me?
Active user? Show them a list of my trashed motors, muddy flying feild photos while STUCK in mud, and a bunch of reciepts for parts, batteries, bigger chargers, a photo of my pile of tyres worn to the canvas! KEEP all reciepts and documentation, and photos. But to be fair they just believe me as they know me well...What things should be included? How do you justify the various things you need? (eg how do you prove you are an extremely active user?) I mean justify them so that the CCG etc can't refute them. Even if they concede, they'll try and get away with the bare minimum.
? nope. Its an excuse and you are being fobbed of due to politeness. I dont qualify for that and nor do I care. The wheelchair services have a remit to supply a suitable chair, or money to do so.Also the lovely little sticking point for personal health/wheelchair budgets is that you have to qualify for the CHC funding to be awarded them.
This is the bit I'm currently fighting to get the second assessment in my first post, just to clarify. If you can't/don't qualify for the CHC funding (according to the CCG who assesses you) then they don't have to pay for the PHB or PWB. Even though this is bizarre when linked to the wheelchair budget.
On Personal Wheelchair Budgets – a new approach to wheelchair commissioning will replace the current voucher scheme. Wheelchair users have found a number of challenges with the existing scheme, now 20 years old, including a lack of information and guidance around maintenance, repair and replacement as well as a limited number of providers where a voucher can be redeemed.
The new personal health budget scheme will offer more choice of where wheelchairs can be bought as well as a detailed care plan that will help users make informed decision about their wheelchair. The care plans will also go beyond purchasing the chair to also include guidance on future maintenance, repair and replacement needs.
It means that a wheelchair will form part of a person’s wider care, catering for their individual needs and ensuring a more joined-up approach, a key aim of NHS England’s Five Year
Mistake 1. Assess yourself, dont allow them to do it first. Send your assessement recorded delivery and call daily to speak to whowever is in charge. Their assessement is not a thing you "pass" its an assessement of the cheapest possible method to get out of paying and to prescribe the bare minimum that you could manage with. At the cheapest cost to them. Holistic needs will never be mentioned. Clinical manually powered options only will be "allowed"... My assessement was 10 pages of complex details explaining exactly why/what I required, with a list of 3 chairs that would do the trick.I'm currently on a waiting list for my first powerchair assessment. I've been told the list is about 16wks and I've been on it 10wks.
For all. If you want it.Is the personal wc budget aimed at patients with more complicated clinical needs?
You cant "pass" or fail. You can be assessed as needing either no chair, a basic manual deckchair, a lightweight manual active user type chair, a powerchair, from super useless to 10k all singing/dancing. They will get you to fill in a form full of trick questions. And measure your doorways. A door too narrow? No powerchair. They ask you how far you go, and then you obviously put that you need to go a long way. So bigger battery needed. Chair now wider, wont fit through doorway. So they offer something small/cheap, or manual... Be careful what you answer! I just told them all the questions made no sense and sent it back empty with my own written assessement.I was hoping to pass the assessment and qualify for an NHS voucher. But from my experience of the voucher scheme it can only be used with 'approved suppliers'.
Burgerman wrote:Assess yourself, dont allow them to do it first. Send your assessement recorded delivery and call daily to speak to whowever is in charge. Their assessement is not a thing you "pass" its an assessement of the cheapest possible method to get out of paying and to prescribe the bare minimum that you could manage with. At the cheapest cost to them. Holistic needs will never be mentioned. Clinical manually powered options only will be "allowed"... My assessement was 10 pages of complex details explaining exactly why/what I required, with a list of 3 chairs that would do the trick.
Burgerman wrote:You cant "pass" or fail. You can be assessed as needing either no chair, a basic manual deckchair, a lightweight manual active user type chair, a powerchair, from super useless to 10k all singing/dancing. They will get you to fill in a form full of trick questions. And measure your doorways. A door too narrow? No powerchair. They ask you how far you go, and then you obviously put that you need to go a long way. So bigger battery needed. Chair now wider, wont fit through doorway. So they offer something small/cheap, or manual... Be careful what you answer! I just told them all the questions made no sense and sent it back empty with my own written assessement.
Burgerman wrote:inc which chairs are suitable and exactly why!
Scooterman wrote:After reading through this topic I'm definitely going to go on the pro-active. I will emphasise my need for a powerchair so I can carry on living indecently .
Burgerman wrote:I think that if you can not show medical needs for a powerchair indoors they wont fund one. If they do, then they will only fund an indoor only one, as they say that outdoor use is not in their remit. However if you cant transfer independently, and so must use the same chair then outside use too is considered.
Yes same rules as wheelchair services. They will assess in the same way regardless of peronal or wheelchair budgets.
clairc wrote:It's frustrating for people in my position, too disabled to function normally but not disabled enough to qualify for help. I try and do the right thing, I work hard pushing through the pain to maintain my mobility and because of that I have to struggle to pay for equipment that keeps me independent. Yet if I give in to my conditions and allow myself to become frail then everything will be handed to me on a plate, free of charge.
Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate my limited mobility, I only wish independence didn't have such a high price, both physically and financially. Being able to leave your house on your own shouldn't be a luxury.
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