Wheelchair Services

[NackerNed]

Does anyone know what wheelchair services are handing out now to patients approx 150kg?

[Burgerman]

Whatever your clinical and holistic needs require. PROVIDED you are prepared for a fight. Or a cheque every 3 years - in my case for around 6k - for you to buy/build/obtain used/repair existing or whatever you decide is best. That needs a self assessement and really really big and very determined fight.

Otherwise it it'll besome cheap 4mph motorised deck chair. Probably invacare and so linx and unprogramable.

If you can lose 10lb many chairs can do 140kg. I am about 20 stone, 130kg. Give or take some. Probably more... Not been weighed for 3 years.

[Burgerman]

I have had 4 cheques or bank transfers so far and am about to apply and send my personal assesement in for the next. Since about 2008... I was the first on a trial of one because I complained rather a lot about the system to the health department...

Since December 2019, everyone who is eligible for an NHS wheelchair should have access to a personal health budget.

These are planned and agreed between individuals and clinicians, giving people greater choice, flexibility and control over their health and care support.

A personal health budget could be spent on:

• specially adapted wheelchairs designed to maximise independence

• a choice of personal care assistants who can be trained to meet the individual’s needs

• exercise classes to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, gain confidence and reduce stress

More than 70,000 people currently have personal health budgets – 40,000 wheelchair users – and as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, access will increase so that up to 200,000 people can receive one by 2024.

The NHS Long Term Plan aims to expand personalised care. This will be given to 2.5 million people by 2024 through measures including personal health budgets and social prescribing.

Personal Wheelchair Budgets were announced in 2016

Since Personal Wheelchair Budgets were announced in 2016, there have been pilot schemes in five areas, replacing vouchers with a personal budget which could be used for an individual’s choice of wheelchair, either within NHS wheelchair services or from an alternative provider.

Since April 2017, all CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups) have been expected to develop plans for delivering Personal Wheelchair Budgets in their area.

In February 2019, the government announced that wheelchair users whose posture and mobility needs impact their wider health and social care needs would have a legal right to a personal health budget.

The latest announcement states that anybody who is eligible for an NHS wheelchair can receive a personal health budget .

Why have a personal budget?

The intention is to give people who use NHS wheelchair services greater choice and control.

This should be achieved through providing holistic assessments that take into account people’s wider needs and how good wheelchair provision can increase independence and improve their health and wellbeing outcomes.

It should enable people to identify their own health and wellbeing outcomes; provide them with more integrated services; and give better information about local choices available.



Wheelchair vouchers are still operating alongside personal wheelchair budgets.


The aims of the personal wheelchair budget model

Implemented well, personal wheelchair budgets should provide increased flexibility, and enable people to access the right wheelchair – one which not only meets their health and wellbeing needs, but also any specific requirements that they identify as most important to them.

They should transfer control over the choice of a wheelchair to users and their families, and provide greater transparency about choices available, including the amount of funding and what should be included.

The budget planning will look at future servicing, repair and replacement needs, as well as the initial purchase of a chair.

The personal wheelchair budget represents an important step towards integrating wheelchair provision into an individual’s wider care, ensuring a more joined-up approach.

Statistically, the new system will also help NHS England to keep meaningful data about wheelchair provision, which should improve services, and iron out variations across the country.


No extra money, but more effective use of existing resources

A personal wheelchair budget will give the user a level of choice and control that they are comfortable with. They may choose to use their personal wheelchair budget within the NHS range that is available locally.

Alternatively, they can add to the budget, to enhance what is available from the NHS, or they can take it to an independent provider and purchase their wheelchair there.

There is no extra funding within the system, but the framework that is being developed is intended to help clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to reduce duplication and utilise resources more effectively.

[NackerNed]

Thankyou, sounds like another long, lengthy fight on hand

[Burgerman]

Either that or you let them assess you for a barely motorised 4mph deck chair and supply it eventually... Attheir own speed. As usual in life you only get out what you put in.