As part of the assessment process, if you are eligible to receive a wheelchair from the NHS, we will:
- Carry out an assessment to establish your clinical needs and discuss how a wheelchair will help you achieve your goals.
- Develop a personal wheelchair support plan with you.
- Offer you a personal wheelchair budget (PWB). This is an amount of money for a wheelchair to meet your assessed clinical needs.
- Advise you on your options and assist you in deciding how you want to use your personal wheelchair budget (PWB).
You will have the option to add to your PWB if you require additional accessories, features, or a higher specification of wheelchair than within the NHS range. You may wish to self-fund or approach wider agencies and charities for any additional funding.
You can decide to use your PWB in one of the following ways:
1. A Notional Personal Wheelchair Budget – A NHS Wheelchair
(which you do not have to pay for)
- Use your PWB within NHS services.
- Accept the NHS wheelchair prescribed for you.
- All repairs and maintenance (due to fair wear and tear) will be carried out by the NHS at no charge to you.
- Equipment remains the property of the NHS and must be returned when it is no longer needed.
2. A Notional Personal Wheelchair Budget with Contribution (option to contribute to your NHS Wheelchair to upgrade or add additional features)
- Allows you or another agency such as a voluntary / charitable organisation the option to contribute to your PWB to upgrade or add extra features to the wheelchair prescribed for you (wheelchair therapy staff will offer advice and support to do this).
- The amount of your PWB is how much it would cost the NHS to provide a wheelchair to meet your clinical need, you pay the difference between this amount and the cost of the equipment you have chosen.
- All repairs and maintenance (due to fair wear and tear) will be carried out by the NHS at no charge to you.
- Equipment remains the property of the NHS and must be returned when it is no longer needed.
NB – we are unable to provide refunds or exchanges for upgrades or additional features.
Back to top3. A Third Party Personal Wheelchair Budget
(access a Wheelchair from outside the NHS)
- Use your PWB to access a wheelchair of your choice from one of our authorised suppliers outside of the NHS (this option is only available when the wheelchair therapy team agree this is clinically appropriate for you to do this and the chair you choose must meet the prescription given to you in your support plan).
- The value of the PWB is how much it would cost the NHS to provide a wheelchair to meet your clinical need and this will be issued in the form of a voucher. If you choose a wheelchair which costs more than your PWB, you will have to meet the additional cost yourself. Another agency /organisation could support you with this.
- At your assessment, our staff will provide you with details of your PWB, a copy of your personal wheelchair prescription and a list of authorised suppliers you can choose your wheelchair from.
- Once you have chosen your wheelchair from one of our suppliers, your choice of equipment will need to be agreed as clinically appropriate by your NHS wheelchair therapist before ordering / purchasing the equipment.
- You can only use your PWB for the same category of wheelchair e.g. a PWB for a manual wheelchair must only be used to purchase a manual wheelchair.
- After purchasing, you can apply for an annual contribution towards the cost of repairs and maintenance of your chosen wheelchair.
- You will not have access to the NHS free repair service.
- You will become independent of the Wheelchair Service during the PWB period.
- You will own the wheelchair and be responsible for the upkeep, repair, maintenance, insurance and any other associated costs.
How long does a Personal Wheelchair Budget last?
The PWB will be unique to you and the length of the PWB will be dependent upon your prescription. A typical adult wheelchair lasts 5 years. For children, changes are needed more often as they grow, typically around 3 years. This may also be the case with some medical conditions where wheelchair needs can change quickly. Once your personal wheelchair budget is handed over, the wheelchair service will not be able to offer you something else if you change your mind; however, you may ask for a review should your clinical needs change.
Insurance
Public Liability Insurance is strongly recommended if you are using your wheelchair in a public place, particularly a powered wheelchair.
