Question of mobility
How do people with a lack of mobility and no support network, physically get to medical appointments at GP Surgeries and Hospital ?
Comments
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Hi I’ve been struggling it’s extremely frustrating . 🤔
3 -
Trains, buses, taxi, push yourself there.
I am walking mobile but at times I have extreme difficulty with mobility - that's when I have to use taxi.
If think I'll cope I used train or bus.
Very very rarely do I ever ask anyone for a lift - that is my desperation stage.
2 -
Hospital transport does exist - non emergency patient transport.
My area also has Driving Miss Daisy
There are also care agencies where you can hire a carer to drive & assist you, or have a PA (Personal Assistant) do the same.
3 -
I use my mobility scooter. Before that, I had to use my rollator.
The surgery have solved the problem, however; they no longer give out appointments!
4 -
Many people don't, including me at the minute.
In County Durham it's completely impossible to hire a wheelchair accessible taxi. Public transport is useless too.
I've got tickets to see Ben Elton on Tuesday, I'll have to pay a taxi to drive here from Sunderland or Gateshead. The taxi will drive 20-30 miles here in order to take me 7 miles.
If my GP needs to see me they come to my house. There isn't an alternative.
I use Patient Transport if I'm going to hospital, that's a very good service and it's free.
Don't get me started on the problems with wheelchair services and purchasing wheelchairs!
🙄
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I'm in my powerchair then on the bus, if it's the hospital. I'm lucky to have a choice of buses & one straight to one of the hospitals. The other hospital is a bus ride then a roll through a couple of parks, which is quite nice when dry. GP is not far away so in my powerchair for those appointments.
2 -
Taxis,taxis ,taxis. It costs a fortune but no alternative. I'd struggle without PIP
3 -
I live a mile away from the local hospital but my electric wheelchair could not be trusted to get me there and back on a single charge
I live 7 miles from my GP surgery in the next town !
Buses do not exist that would take me to the next town (or - to be honest anywhere near the hospital) — except for leaving at 7:30 am and and are not kneeling - so not wheelchair accessible - and there are no wheelchair accessible taxis !!
Even if there were a wheelchair accessible taxi - 14 miles with an hour wait would cost be at least £50 - and I would have to book it a week in advance.
I am TOTALLY dependant on others to help me to get ANYWHERE. (I cannot walk a yard myself)
3 -
At what cost ?
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Hospital transport is free.
Driving Miss Daisy is a private company so they charge.
I know a lady who uses them and it's her Attendance Allowance that pays the costs, which aren't that much more than a standard taxi.
No different to the poster above who uses their PIP to pay for taxis.
Carers/PA's are either privately funded by the individual or funded through social services if the individual qualifies after the care need has been identified, and a financial assessment finds they don't have to pay in full or part.
2 -
Hi Wibbles. I could have asked your question. I use a rollator to get round the house. I've got a wheelchair plus steps to the house. I wouldn't even attempt to get the chair down the steps and put it up. Physically I couldn't do it.
I've had nhs letters asking me to go for tests for this or that but always refuse to go. It's not that I'm being uncooperative, its that I have no way of getting there.
Couple of years ago my doctor wanted me to have blood tests. Rang the surgery , explained my situation . And very politely asked if it would be possible for a community nurse to visit me? You'd have thought I'd asked the Red Sea to part for me! Seems there's no record of me being housebound. I've not been to the surgery since way before lockdown ( that's when my mobility went). I certainly haven't been since.
A nurse did eventually come out but she wasn't particularly nice shall we say. All I want from my surgery is for the GP to sign off my prescriptions. I get my meds through the post.
One thing that does concern me is what will happen if I wake up one morning with toothache. That would be a major problem.
I'm fortunate that I have a a lovely friend who looks after me. But he's got chronic mental health issues, spent the best part of two years sectioned, clinical situations are understandably very bad for him . The family live the other end of the country.
Its a difficult situation to be in. Be interesting to see what other people say
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I use an electric wheelchair as I'm a double leg amputee above the knee and am not suitable for prosthetics.
We have a motability car with a ramp thankfully but there are also accessible Taxis too.
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When I lived in Peterborough I used their free ambulance minibus, wheelchair accessible too.
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Contact your hospital to see if they have patient transport. It's a free service, that's takes you to hospital then back home. I've used it many times, the only problem is they ask you to ready two hours before your appointment time, and it can be a wait to go home. They have used a privates taxi service if they have no availability, which is still free to you.
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Is anybody actually responsible for ensuring that disabled people can, at least, get to medical appointments?
Medical appointments could be a matter of life or death if missed
Perhaps the LA or NHS
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There needs to be a law requiring compensation for all travel expenses of a disabled person if he is not able to reach his destination independently.
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Who would be responsible for the compensation?
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is this not what you get the mobility part of pip for the added expenses of getting from a to b
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I was just referring to @egister and comments on being paid compensation for NOT being able being able to get to all destinations independently....
But in any case - money does not make any difference to my original question
How would a non mobile person, with no support physically get to a hospital or GP appointment?
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Slightly different situation but when I was losing the ability to drive (or travel in any vehicle) due to vertigo & digestive issues I had hoped and assumed that there would be some sort of help with getting to medical appointments. That was absolutely not the case, and all that happened was my GP covered his backside by suggesting that I should 'think carefully' about whether I was still safe to drive! I'm now trapped at home, in a property that is not suitable for my conditions, and have no way of accessing medical diagnosis or treatment.
I do now get Standard Mobility on PIP, which is of course completely useless now that I can't travel. But I agree that is meant to cover the costs of taxis or busses for people with limited mobility. Obviously that doesn't change the fact that there aren't always suitable travel options nearby, regardless of cost.
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