We Want to Hear Your Views on Proposed Changes to the NHS Wheelchair Service Consultation

We want to hear your views on proposed changes to the NHS Wheelchair Service – consultation starts today

The Isle of Wight (IW) Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is consulting on access to the NHS Wheelchair Service and is seeking the views of islanders who are users of the service, carers and those involved in health and social care in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

The consultation will run from December 14, 2016 until January 18, 2017 and is in the form of an online survey, a downloadable copy from the CCG website or upon request for a paper copy.

What is this consultation document about?

The IW CCG regularly reviews all the services it commissions to ensure that it is using NHS funds appropriately and fairly. As part of regular reviews of services it commissions it has identified that it would like to review its policy on access to the NHS Wheelchair service.

Current NHS Wheelchair Service provision

The IW CCG currently funds a NHS Wheelchair Service, provided by the IW NHS Trust, for about 2,000 people who have a permanent problem with walking. Some people need to sit in a wheelchair all the time and others use them on an occasional basis.

The NHS service provides adults and children with a wheelchair on loan and includes assessment of need, plus delivery, maintenance and collection of the wheelchair. The wheelchair is provided and maintained free of charge and the person can be reassessed if their needs change.

People who have a temporary need for a wheelchair, or are waiting to be assessed for a permanent loan wheelchair, currently are able to borrow one from the IW Red Cross on a short-term loan of about three months. This service is provided free of charge and is funded by the IW Red Cross.

Why are changes being proposed?

The demand and cost of wheelchairs has gone up considerably and with the financial pressures the CCG is facing it has to consider how the service can be delivered within the money available.

Proposed changes

The CCG feels it should prioritise available funding for permanent wheelchair users who use a wheelchair all the time, meaning occasional wheelchair service users would no longer be able to access the NHS funded service.

Your views are sought on the impact of such a proposal

The CCG wants to get the views of islanders on the impact of this change and establish if there are other ways of trying to meet demand with current funding.

Any change would not affect people who already have a wheelchair for part-time use but would be applied to all new assessments.

Self-completion Consultation Survey

1. Which of the following applies to you?

I am a NHS wheelchair user

I am a carer of, or I am responding on behalf of, someone who is a NHS Wheelchair user

I am a health or social care professional (e.g. GP, AHP, Care Manager, Nurse, Consultant)

Other (please specify)

2. If you are a wheelchair user, please tell us where you obtained your wheelchair. If you are not a wheelchair user, please go to Question 3.

NHS Isle of Wight

NHS Mainland

Privately purchased

Charity

Isle of Wight Red Cross

3. Are you someone who might be affected by the proposal to limit wheelchair provision to permanent, full-time wheelchair users only? If you answered “Yes”, we particularly want to hear your views. Please write your comments in the box below. If you answered “No”, please go to Question 4.

Comments:

4. Do you have any suggestions on how permanent part-time users of wheelchairs could be supported?

Comments:

5. The consultation briefing explains why some Island residents may not be able to receive a NHS wheelchair any more. Do you agree that the available money should be used, as a priority, to support people with a permanent, full--time need for a wheelchair? (Please tick one box)

Strongly agree

Agree

Not sure

Disagree

Strongly disagree

6. If you are not sure, or if you disagree or strongly disagree, please tell us why.

Comments:

7. Do you have any further suggestions about the NHS Wheelchair Service and who should get access to a NHS funded wheelchair?

Comments:

8. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

Comments:

All comments will be anonymised. We would like to obtain views through this survey from all parts of our community, and to help with this, we would be grateful if you could state the following information. Any information you provide will remain anonymous. This information is reviewed to see if we are gaining the views of a cross-section of the population (Equality Act).
Please tell us in the box below:
Your age
Your gender
Your ethic origin
If you have a disability
Your religion or belief
How would you describe your sexual orientation

Additional Comments:

A consultation report will be published on the CCG website which will be used to inform the IW CCG Governing Body to enable a decision to be made on any next steps.

If you cannot access the website and would like us to provide an update on this consultation by mail, please also supply a name and address where you would like to receive the survey report. Your contact details will only be used to send you the report and will not be stored.

Thank you very much for filling in this survey. All your comments are valuable and will be taken into consideration.

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