Charity cash rap for NHS
Reporter: Marina Berry
Date published: 13 March 2009
THE NHS has been urged to stop relying on charities to fill funding gaps in the wake of a revelation that many trusts will not pay the full cost of electric wheelchairs for disabled children.
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign says children are the victims of a postcode lottery over what equipment they are given.
The claim is based on Freedom of Information figures obtained by the charity.
Responses from 54 per cent of NHS trusts in England and Scotland show that children in England are forced to wait five months on average for a wheelchair — with the longest wait in the North-West reaching two years.
Shauna Dixon, director of clinical leadership for NHS Oldham, said: “All children who are assessed by the West Pennine wheelchair service as needing an electric wheelchair are provided with one.
“Some parents may decide they would prefer different equipment to what is available on the NHS and in these cases, parents sometimes ask charities for support.”
She added: “Waiting times vary. An initial assessment usually happens within a few weeks.
“Some children may also need a specialist adviser or a number of different professionals to decide how best to make sure the wheelchair meets their needs.
“For example, they may need special seating to cope with spinal deformities. The wheelchair service on average spends £2,000 on an electric wheelchair.”
Most children in Oldham get a wheelchair if they need one within five months.
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign said nearly all trusts it contacted said the cost of a wheelchair was around £2,000, when the true cost of a basic wheelchair was around £1,000 more.
Philip Butcher, the charity’s chief executive, described the findings as a “national scandal,” adding: “It is a damning indictment of the NHS that so many families across the UK are forced to rely on charities or be driven into financial hardship just to receive vital, life-improving equipment for their disabled children.
“It’s time the NHS stops relying on charities to fill the gaps left by its inadequate funding.”
