Wheelchair

[RememberDecember]

My dad has been virtually bedbound for the last 6m in the, the OT is coming out to assess for a wheelchair and any adaptations for the house. She has already said there is a year wait for a funded one and something about vouchers to part fund purchase privately. Is there anything specific we should be looking for, anything you would recommend? I envisage it is likely to be the carers taking him out a couple of times a week.

I got my dad one on Gumtree.

Lots of second hand ones available.

eBay is good, most places have a shop that does refurbished ones.

they are expensive new.

Some places hire out new wheelchairs. Your surgery should be able to tell you where from.

I have seen lots of wheelchairs online (eBay/gumtree) that seem to have had little use. We would have been happy to get a used one as long as we could have inspected it first. However MiL could afford a new one, and we couldn't find a used one at the time that matched what she wanted, so we ended up buying new.

I just got one off Amazon for my Dad but I know that most towns have mobility shops where you can try them (both from the sitting and pushing point of view).

If it's been recommend by the OT she can write a prescription for one.. someone needs to come and measure your Dad.. then the wheelchair is fit personally for them.
A manual takes up to 2 weeks.. an electric one up to 12 weeks.
Yes a second hand one is good buy.. but might not be suitable to his height/ weight/ body

Argos. Cheap and cheerful. Tells you the weight. That’s important if you’re lifting it into the car.

Yes, she was saying that it needs to be fitted to him. I was surprised to hear her say there was a 1yr waiting list although he could buy one.

Takes me back a bit, this...

1. Yes, you can get w/chairs second hand on eBay etc but make sure it's the sort the Council help approve already because otherwise if they turn nasty they can use it as a 'safeguarding' concern and assume control.
2. A transit w/chair really is what you want but not the piddly ones with small front wheels and small back wheels, they are just to get from the bedroom to the next room... Not big back wheels as he won't be pushing it himself and dangling hands can get caught in them - to be avoided!
3. Do remember you will likely need a decent pressure cushion as well, that may be about £50 got separately.
4. Helps it if's folding, if you want to get it in the boot of the car or taxi. Helps if the side panels with arm rests are detachable too, as that helps your parent to slide from a sitting position onto the chair, say from a bed or a taxi. Helps if the back folds down also. These are hard to come by.
5. Yes, see if you can get a light one as boy, you may be pushing this around and it does get knackering.
6. Not too narrow, not too wide. I think it helps if he can put his hands and arms down the side of it and not just have to have them resting on the arm rests always.

That all said, took my late Mum and later my now late Dad all around London and Paris on a wheelchair, great opportunities await! Would also suggest a sit-down peddling machine to keep his legs active.

If you are thinking of an electric one I'd go with your dad to try out a few in a shop to find out which sort of controls he likes best. My dad bought one second hand which had a joystick but he found it difficult to operate. In retrospect, it would have been better if he could have tried out a few different types before purchasing one.

I'd also watch out for the weight as some of them can be pretty heavy to get in and out of a boot.

My mum had a wheelchair through the NHS and the hardest part of the process was finding out how to get her referred. Like the previous OP we went everywhere with it - Disneyland, Brussels, - had wheelchair, would travel. The other advantage of the NHS one was that when anything broke or wore out they replaced the part or the chair within days.

If it's only going to be used for a couple of short outings a week, and he is mobile enough to get into it without being hoisted, then one of the basic ones from Argos or whatever would do for the short term. For obvious reasons, there are lots of very lightly-used ones around second-hand too.

If it is going to be for longer use, or if your DF can no longer transfer from a wheelchair to a car and back again, you'll need a sturdier one, and you need to check whether it has fixing points so it can be used in a wheelchair taxi. My DM nearly missed an important hospital appointment because the wheelchair she had been using when she was mobile enough to transfer into a car was not safe for use in a specialist taxi.

you can get ones that are fitted to the person.

we got one for my DD that had a tri-ride attachment on the front so it could either be motorised or manual.

total cost 8thousand pounds.

it was stolen by some teens who pushed it into traffic and it got run over.

the pre-made ones come in a variety of sizes and shapes and if you go to one of the big showrooms you can work out what size you need.

They are a lot less expensive than getting one fitted to you and honestly there’s not that much difference. My DD now has a pre made one.

Very much depends on his needs. My elderly relative can still walk slowly with a walking frame. We looked on eBay and found new ones for 70 quid and the one we got folds up, goes in car boots, does the job of getting her around shopping centres and so on perfectly adequately.

Where in the country are you? I'm in the north west, I got my referral 9 weeks ago and they came out for a home visit for sizing last month. I'm going to try out my new chair and make sure it's fully suitable next week.

Are you looking for a manual or a power chair?

If you get it from Amazon, check if it's sold by Amazon, where you can get free return on your postage.
I had to return a wheelchair, used my Dad's old wheelchair to ferry it to the Post Office. It was like that scene with the pantomime horse in Hi-de-Hi!

I got one for my Aunty for £40 from one of our local charity shops.

I think we need photos

OT came out yesterday to measure up. She said he will get a temp one he can use for 6 weeks delivered next week then it is a year wait for the other one. I think we will see how we get on with the temp one as a a starting point.