Wheelchair tips

NSM

Hello. I have been referred to my local wheelchair service. My physiotherapist believes I need electric wheelchair. I have been waiting very nearly 6 months for the appointment. This is all really new to me. Does anybody have some tips on what sort of things I need to ask or tell the wheelchair technician when  I finally get that  elusive appointment?

To be honest I need something ultra lightweight that I can get in and out of the car on my own. I've looked at things like a travelscoot and the Zinger, but I worry the wouldn't cope with typically uneven pavements. Has anyone got one of these?

Thanks

nanof6

hi , no i havn't,i had to wate a while, i had to get my door widened and a ramp put in place first,i then bought a car with a ramp , but i have someone to drive me, you sound like your looking for some thing you can manage yourself, my wheelchair is 250kl in waight  its very sturdy, goes over  3inches, i can get 7 miles b4 recharge,getting it from the wc service they maintain it and if it breaks down they will fix it, i was reading a story on here last week the wc service is all changeing, and the hospitals wont be able to refer anyone, i was quite shocked when i red it.i will get back to you if i can find it. good luck with your knew chair.

nanof6

i found it, geoffbosworth 195661 post 106  april 3rd in disabilily aids and equipment, have a read, make sure you get a good strong wchair to last

bendigedig

@NSM

Please forgive me, but I couldnt help laughing at the unfortunate title of the post . Ha ha ha.  

Heaven forbid that any wheelchair should tip

NSM

Bendigedig  I'd like to say it was intentional,  but actually that is one of the things that really worries me: if I go out and buy something light enough while I am waiting; will it tip over?

bendigedig

I now that its no joke @NSM.

My Old fella was a stubborn old ****.  He went fly fishing in his chair.  The ground wasnt too good one time and he tipped himself over.

He spent over an hour on the deck before sombody happened upon him . He was lucky.

I know that its a serious issue.

billy1234

Hi i have a power chair from wheelchair services. And it has been a godsend. It's called a quicki chair.and it has 6 wheels. Its a 7 mile chair on full charge  top speed 4 mile.It gose over grass when it is dry but hates the snow.just slides and gets bogged down i have many a time got stuck in the mud and had to shout for help for a push. As i take my dog out everyday she walks  on lead beside me.But apart from that it's good it will go up 3 inch curb but best to look for a drop curb. It gose in my car i have a hoist.as have hand controles on my  car. i got wheelchair services to do me a chair with a drop back so it folds down they did try to give me a 4 wheel smaller chair but was hopeless wouldn't go up a drop curved with any tilt.And just slid  on smooth ground when wet.myfriend has ramps in his car so it will go in his as well. As for scooters i have a days mini 4 it's a canny scoot four wheel gose 10 mile to the battery depending on where you go. I use this more in winter as fine in snow if not to deep though they do say so not use in wet weather.it folds into 5 bits. It is heavy but it's one of the smaller scooter and gose in the car in one bit using the hoist. If you are on high DLA mobility will help you pay for a hoist if not ramps start at around £70. All scooters/chairs hate gravel and it depends on what terrain you are going on. If you suffer from a bad back please don't buy a scooter and lift it yourself all are a good weight.i have had loads over the 17 year of being in a wheelchair good luck searching as loads on the market now.ps i had to wait 8 month for my power chair may be different now. 

nanof6

billy i had a quicki last april from the wheelchair service, it sounds the same. yes i agree it doesn't like gravel, but its fast if you want it to be, don't no how i would mannage without it, im off to london october to see a show, train ,and then a bus wich ive never been on before, liveing in west wales you dont no whats going on in london, id never heard about the adapted busses, im realy excited, can't wate to try it out. 

billy1234

We have adapted busses here in the north of England there not bad the bus lowers to ground level so you just wheel on.and there's a big space for you to park in our buses take two wheelchairs probably bigger in London.we have some nice busdrivers who are helpful and some not so.

anaqi

Hi NSM!

I'm afraid what you're looking for doesn't exist.  You can't get an ultralight electric wheelchair that you can put in the car but can also handle outdoors.  There are some wheelchairs that claim to do it but they struggle on anything other than a perfectly smooth and flat pavement.

Getting an electric wheelchair from wheelchair services can be tough in the first place.  They usually only provide you with one if you are a full time wheelchair users and cannot physically self propel a manual chair inside your own home.  I need one but I don't qualify because I can walk on crutches in my home, even though I can't propel my wheelchair and I can't walk more than a couple of yards outdoors.

If you do get an electric wheelchair on the NHS it's likely to be for indoor use only.  Good electric wheelchairs are incredibly heavy so you'd need either a large car with a hoist or a WAV - wheelchair accessible vehicle that has a ramp or a lift.  

As I said you can get chairs that claim to be portable and indoor/outdoor use but they are still very heavy.  I had an old style Pride Go chair for a while.  It was great in the supermarket but the individual parts were still pretty heavy (I couldn't lift it myself) and it struggled on the pavement outside my house because the wheels were so small.

There are some new style folding electric wheelchairs coming out of China that are pretty light and use lithium batteries.  They look pretty good but I recently read about a man who accidentally tipped his over backwards.  The anti-tip bars just crumpled and he ended up hurting his back.  These kinds of chairs cost around £2,000 and are not available on the NHS.

If you can't get any help from the NHS you can always lease a wheelchair or scooter from Motability if you are on DLA high rate mobility or PIP enhanced mobility.  You can't do this if you already have a Motability car though. 

Good luck with your appointment!

NSM

Thank you all for your help and advice. I will let you know how it goes.