Can you hire a wheelchair from the NHS?

[KBearthePolarBear]

My MIL is 75, she's had a fall due to losing the feeling in one leg. Been to hosp, going to have some treatment.

Anyway...she'd got a zimmer frame but she can't walk outside at all. She'll go even more bonkers if she has to stay in so I wondered about hiring a wheelchair so I could take her shopping etc.

Does anyone know if you can hire them from the hospitals? I'm hoping she won't have to pay for one.

Found this for you on the disabled lic=vinf foundation website

'In the interim, you could hire a wheelchair. The British Red Cross offer a wheelchair hire service and this is usually the cheapest hire source. There are commercial companies that hire, Fred Walton runs a national hire service, but there are also local companies. If you contact our helpline they can look these up for you, tel. 0895 130 9177.'

Thanks MB.

Has she been assessed by a physio, she should be eligible for one if she can't walk outside?

quite a few shops have them you can borrow - I know Tesco does for example. Also, does your town have a "Mobility" place - ours in in the big shopping centre and you can park the car and hire (borrow?) a wheelchair just for in the shopping centre.

I'm an OT an assess people when they are in hospital. in my area NHS only provides wheelchairs for indoor and outdoor mobility only. Its not seen as essential to be able to leave the house apparantly!!!!

My hospital doesn't have any wheelchairs to hire out so we have refer people to the red cross or local companies. People who need one all the time get referred to the NHS wheelchair service.

your local red cross or st johns ambulance might hire them out, usually for a small donation. my sister borrowed one when she broke both her legs and couldn't walk, so mum hired one so that she could stillg et out of the house a sit wa the middle of summer.

I bought my dad one on ebay for £70 (from a proper wheelchair selling company, not in an auction). Nice and light and foldable.

Thanks all - Smurfgirl, apparently she is going to get a letter about physio - don't know how long that will take.

Our shopping centre hires them out for nothing which is good and we'll be okay in the supermarket but it's for things like when she needs to go round the bank etc. You know how the older generation like to go in person rather than call etc etc. She obviously trusts me to get her cash out for her but the bank have said she needs to sign a form for something and she's insisting she will have to go round. I've told her to tell them to post her the form and I'll get it posted back but she's flapping about all this sort of stuff!

Anyway, thanks

when i got run over we hired my wheel chair from our local red cross as well!