I'd like some advice about buying a wheelchair please.

[Nooneelse]

Hi, my Dad will be needing occasional use of a wheelchair...but this is likely to progress over time. So I want to buy one that will suit the purpose of progressively more use.

I've googled and can see chairs from £70 ish. Would that do? Or is there a particular place that offers advice and recommendations?

Hopefully someone here is more knowledgeable than I am

There is a lot more to it than meets the eye but hopefully some proper expertise will
Come along. It's one thing to borrow any old wheelchair for a one off outing with elderly Aunt, but quite another thing for regular use. The height of the person, do they have a risk.of pressure sores etc plus practical stuff like weight of chair (& user), dimensions when collapsed etc

Has your dad got an ot? They can advise on what chair to get.

If you have a mobility shop near you they normally sell wheelchairs and can probably give advice on general chairs.

Our dad's is from wheelchair services so can't really help other than to say ringing and asking mobility companies may help?

Sorry DD!

Would the hospital provide one?
Until last year, we had a Red Cross service that allowed you to hire them for a day/week/month after a assessment.
Might be worth seeing if you have a similar service

Wheelchair services are generally rubbish but can give you a voucher towards buying your own chair. Worth getting fitted, a wheelchair company can make sure things like seat width and foot plates are at the correct height and cushion for comfort

A good starting point to find out what's out there is the Complete Care Internet store.
If you feel really lost you could get an OT assessment but after many years of experience I have to say that I haven't found them great because a lot of things are kind of obvious.
The questions you need to think about are: how much will it be used and in what context? Eg does it need to be lightweight and easily foldable to put in a car and get out and about with? Or is it more important that it's super sturdy (these aren't mutually incompatible but just an eg). Will he be self-propelled or carer-propelled or both? Self propelled have the big wheels and can feel harder to control. Carer propelled often have small wheels and feel less likely to run off but can be a bugger on uneven ground or on steps until you've had practice, and even then can be tricky. How big/heavy is he? Especially if it's a carer propelled chair, even smallish people can be really heavy to push in a more basic (ie cheaper!) chair and it might be worth it to go a bit upmarket for a man unless he's really small. How long is he going to be in it at any one time? You ll probably be adding a pressure cushion but even so, some chairs are built more for comfort but that can come at a price both financial and practical in terms of eg folding down etc. If he's only going to be popping to the shops or something, comfort isn't so important as if he'll be in it a lot.
The whole 'care products' thing is a minefield and it can be a case of trial and error. Good luck.

Thank you all for your advice.
Dad is 85 and becoming more frail as the weeks go by.

I will take your advice and speak to the OT and his Dr.
I hadn't realised about the considerations of weight and height being important also.

I really appreciate everyone's words of wisdom, thank you all

If you are going to use it regularly and your dad cannot really manage any distance without it, your GP can refer you to local wheelchair service who will send someone to assess and provide something suitable. As someone has already mentioned, if you would prefer to upgrade to something lighter, they will give you a voucher to go towards whatever you but but it will then belong to your dad and any issues will need to be sorted privately. If you have an NHS chair, a technician will be sent out to sort any issues. If it is not urgent, you may wait a while but can hire from local red cross as needed.

Hi Nooneelse.

I’ve suggested to Mumsnet that we have a disability board so threads like this can easily reach the right people. Or maybe you wouldn’t need to start a new thread because you’d be able to look through all other threads about wheelchairs or whatever. If you agree do leave a comment here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/4231947-Could-we-have-a-disability-board

I am an OT and it is correct that proper measurements are taken usually width depth and foot plate height and depth . However i would call your local wheelchair service and ask if they can arrange this or where you can source an OT

you may be able to borrow or hire one, e.g. from the Red Cross

IMO you really ought to get one that the occupant can control or move themselves, even if slowly and not far.

there is nothing more frustrating than being unable to move yourself and constantly dependent on others.

A long-handled grabber is another enabling device.

btw

it is almost impossible to get up and down kerbs, or even up the ramp of a pedestrian footbridge, unless you are an olympic athlete. Whether you are in the chair or pushing it.

If you come across a car blocking the footpath, my advice is to try and scrape past it. maybe call out gaily to the driver "I'm sure I can get past!"

If you're going to want to put it into a car, make sure it's not too heavy for you to lift. I bought one for my dad and then found that it was too heavy for me, so I had to sell it on and get a lightweight one.

Also think of your own hight (or whoever will be pushing it)-

it can get very painful if you’re too tall and have to bend a bit to push (my dad is 6 foot and has a slightly dodgy back from a slipped disc decades ago and he bought 3 different chairs for my mum before he found one that he could push without pain).

and the terrain of where you will be going- chairs with small wheels are convenient if you want to hang bags off them (at the supermarket say), but if your dad wants to be pushed down the garden, or has a gravel driveway or anything that won’t be perfectly smooth then you need big wheels at the back at least.

https://mobilitypluswheelchairs.co.uk/

I bought my power chair from here- they are very knowledgeable and make and design the chairs themselves. I was so happy with mine my mum bought one too.

When my husband first needed use of a wheelchair I borrowed one. It had four small wheels (cheap fold up chair) and was so uncomfortable. When he needed to use it more often we bought one and made sure to get one with the large rear wheels. It's also foldable and not too heavy for me to lift into the back of our car.