NHS Wheelchair Assessment. Any Experience?

A question about : NHS Wheelchair Assessment. Any Experience?

I was diagnosed with a progressive disease a couple of years ago. My muscles basically do not work. Its worse in my legs but affects my legs to an extent too. There is no treatment and it will only get worse.

Eight months ago my GP referred me to the NHS Wheelchair Service. I have finally been given an appointment for an assessment. I just wondered if anyone had any experience of this or what the edibility is?

I have higher rate DLA for mobility and middle rate for care. I can maybe walk about 3 or 4 meters with the aid for a stick but fatigue and pain makes it impossible to walk any further. My legs also tend to buckle from under me without warning if I try and walk any further.

I am fine round the house but going out anywhere normally ends in me sitting in the car on my own or a very painful quick trip. Occasionally can borrow a wheelchair in supermarkets but there is not always a free one.

I am worried as our local NHS trust have a private company running the wheelchair service now and am guessing they are much harsher on assessments to maximise profits. Also as I can walk a very little bit so worried I may not get one. We have a car through mobility so getting some kind of scooter or wheelchair from them is out.

Just wondered if anyone had gone through this and what to expect? Or what kind of eligibility is looked for?

Thanks in advance for anyone's help

Best answers:

• My experience was rubbish ... As I could just about (at that time) hobble around the house using furniture to lean on or sticks I was told I was ineligible for a powerchair and to purchase my own even though I was unsafe on sticks and zimmer due to a chronic and progressive disease due to no fault of my own.
  I needed a powerchair for outdoors and was told they don't fund these unless an indoor chair had been required for 6 months or more. so although I had basically been bedbound for 6 months this made zero difference.
  So in effect because I had been trying to help myself and putting myself at risk and distress because i didn't fit their tick box criteria ..computers says no.
  I need a powerchair to give me some semblance of independance (i.e being able to go out / work etc) as a youngish adult but never mind this when people "need" nhs boob jobs
  I ended purchasing my own at significant expense.
• My son uses a wheelchair, but can walk very short distances. His breathing is compromised and he has vey hypermobile joints, so walking causes him a great deal of pain. He has had a couple of NHS assessments for a wheelchair and each one has been fine. The assessor asked me about his needs, measured him, and recommended a chair. The first assessment was when he was 8, and they asked me if he wanted a manual or motorised chair. I pointed out that as he also has a learning disability, a motorised chair could be dangerous for both him and those around him.
  The second assessment was a result of him growing, and he is now in an adult chair. The assessor once again asked about his needs and how my son's mobility is affected. He asked if I agreed that a manual chair, without self propelling wheels, would be the most appropriate (self propelling affects my son's upper joints, causing pain and tiring him out very quickly). I agreed, and the assessor made a recommendation.
  Both times, the assessor was friendly. They were knowledgeable, and listened to how my son is affected. They took into account that he is still growing, and told me about the annual maintenance, and who to ring if there is a problem.
• My understanding is that (due to funding cuts) most NHS wheelchair services only fund a wheelchair if both of the following apply:
  1) you need it for both indoor and outdoor use
  2) your home is suitable for you to use your wheelchair in (this doesn't mean you must already have the ramp installed, but if you live in a home with little steps into the kitchen, lounge etc its probably not going to be feasible to adapt it).
  I got an NHS wheelchair voucher to put towards a power wheelchair. I researched wheelchairs in advance, first on the internet and then by having a couple of sales reps visit me at home. This matters, because you need to try it before you get it on an NHS scheme, as (unless your needs change) you'll have to use it for 5 years.
  The NHS assessors aim (so far as I can tell) is to meet your eligible needs in the cheapest way possible. So you need to have two lots of data:
  1) What you will be able to do with the wheelchair, that you can't without it. The more it will change your life, and in particular reduce future NHS costs, the more they can justify spending. In my case, I am bedbound without my chair, so that meant the chair allowed me to:
  - go back to work
  - do more to contribute in the house
  - go out to the local shops independently
  - be able to see family and friends
  - be more physically active thereby reducing the likelihood of me getting an acute illness which might put me in hospital (needing NHS resources).
  2) What you eligible needs are (assuming you've already passed the basic test of 'must need it indoor and outdoor, and the house to be wheelchair suitable). This is where trying before you buy comes in. So I needed:
  - power wheelchair because my illness means I'm too exhausted / my muscles are too weak to use a manual one
  - better than the basic seat cushion, because I'm in it for so many hours a day that I'd be in pain on the basic one
  - the larger chair in the range, to cope with my long legs and the gravel drive at my house
  - tilt in space seat, to help me get rest (eg in meetings) to manage my conditions
  - seat height raiser, so I can reach things at height without standing and so I can deliver training at work and spot if people fall asleep in the back (Access to work topped up my NHS voucher, as the NHS voucher wouldn't pay for this).
  When the assessor came, once I told him I'd already been assessed by a sales rep it became a tick box exercise. If you don't have a sales rep visit you, the NHS will require that you do so you can have a 'driving test'. They won't give you a wheelchair if you can't use it safely.
  I hope this helps
  Jenni
• Hi Jenni, just to let you know that my son doesn't use his wheelchair inside the house, and we have six steps that I carry it up and down to get to and from the car. Luckily, my son can get from the car and into the house. He cannot use one safely alone, due to his learning disability, but as his chair is not powered or self propel, he has not needed to have a 'driving test'.
  I know of several young people who use a wheelchair out of doors but not in their own home, so maybe eligibility is different for adults than for children, but some of these young people have been, or are being, transferred to adult services, and nobody that I know of has been informed that they will no longer qualify for a wheelchair if they do not mention the criteria in your post. I also know of some adults who have a chair but can manage without one indoors.
  Maybe the criteria has changed recently, or could it be different for different hospital trusts? It seems unfair that someone who does not need a chair indoors, but cannot manage outdoors without one, would not be able to access a chair, as they are very different. Indoors, my son can move from one place to another in a few steps. He can sit down to relieve his breathlessness and joint pain. Outdoors, he cannot get to the end of the street without breathlessness and pain (we are the third house in). He cannot sit down, unless he sits on the pavement. It is also impractical to stop as frequently as he would need to in order to prevent his problems from occurring.
• Thanks for everyones input. I am very concerned as wheelchair or not, I am unable to go to work. I do some self employed work from home. I also can get round the house with the use of grab bars and can walk a few feet. I seem to be stuck in a void of not being able to walk further than a few meters but then not quite being 100% immobile. I have tried a few other organisations about getting a wheelchair but they seem un-interested in helping someone in their 30s who is not on benefits.
  I am not really bothered about getting a power chair. Just a wheelchair so I can get around the shops and if we went out for the day, rather than just being stuck sitting in the car or collapsing onto a bench while everyone goes off without me.
• My OH was supplied with a wheelchair by NHS Wheelchair Services with no problems whatsoever.
  He is a Parkinsons patient wth osteoporosis and following a fall at the beginning of January resulting in a serious hip fracture he was referred by the hospitals OT department immediately after surgery as the medical staff felt that given his poor balance and weak bones he was at serious risk of further falls and resulting fractures if he continued to attempt to walk outdoors and recommended he use a wheelchair when leaving the home.
  He was discharged in mid March to the care of the district neurological rehabilitation team and the wheelchair assessment took place at home a couple of weeks later.
  They did initiallly want us to visit an assessment centre but this was impossible without a chair!!
  A physiotherapist from the service came to our house and there was no actual assessment - all she did was take a whole bunch of measurements of OH's height and weight to ascertain what size of chair was the most appropriate.It was always made clear that the chair was for outdoor use only as he manages reasonably well with a walking frame indoors.
  The chair was delivered about 6 weeks later and the physio made a follow up visit the same day to check the fitting was OK.We were also shown how to fold and remove wheels and footplates correctly.
  I had some concerns about the weight of the chair in regards to lifting it in and out of the car and was told if we had any issues to call them and they would issue vouchers to use towards the purchase of our own lightweight chair.
  At the time OH did not receive DLA mobility component.
• NHS wheelchair Assessment? Waste of time.
  I was refused despite them telling me I couldn't self propel due to my condition and my Ortho Consult telling me I mustn't walk!
  I don't have a partner, I was reliant on my 72 year old Mother to push me around but her health deteriorated.
  If it hadn't been for a charity stepping in I'd be housebound.
• After my initial worries it was not problem. They asked me what I needed it for. They then measured me.
  They are trailing a new system where an engineer has the wheelchair there ready and then takes the wheelchair apart and rebuilds it there and then so it is right for you. They also add any extras you need. At the end of the hour assessment you take the wheelchair away. No waiting for weeks and having to come back.
  I know privatistation of parts of the NHS gets a bad rap, but this company does seem to have really made the whole wheelchair assessment much better and quicker.
• OP, have a look on Freecycle/Freegle. Over the years I have seen a number of manual chairs being advertised or offered to people making requests.