One in five children waited over 18 weeks for NHS wheelchair or wheelchair modification

NHS England has published its quarterly national wheelchair statistics, which provides a national view of NHS wheelchair services by collecting information on the number, cost, and access to wheelchair services to enable transparency and benchmarking.

The report is designed to give NHS England a better understanding of NHS wheelchair services and improve the commissioning of those services and the outcomes for people who use wheelchairs.

Covering the period April-June 2023, the most recent figures, provided by integrated care boards (ICBs), reveal that, overall, from the point of a patient being referred to NHS wheelchair services 82.2 percent of children and 86.1 percent of adults either received a wheelchair or wheelchair modification in 18 weeks or fewer.

This is lower than NHS England’s national benchmark of people referred for a wheelchair, or a modification, receiving one within 18 weeks from referral (or re-referral to the service) in 92 percent of cases.

ICBs were asked to provide data about the number of wheelchair service users at their ICB; whether children and adults assessed for wheelchair services were deemed low need, medium need, high need, specialist need, or no equipment provided; whether the patient was new to the wheelchair service or had been re-referred; and the ICB’s current annual expenditure on wheelchair services.

NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB was the only ICB that had no new patients across any of the assessed needs categories for both children and adults waiting over 18 weeks for a wheelchair or wheelchair modification.

Every ICB had at least one re-referred child or adult waiting over 18 weeks for a wheelchair or wheelchair modification when looking at all of the assessed needs categories.

Annual expenditure on wheelchair services varied greatly across ICBs. Of those that submitted data, NHS Greater Manchester ICB had the highest annual expenditure on wheelchair services at £8,106,240. NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire had the lowest annual expenditure on wheelchair services at £389,452.

View all of NHS England’s national wheelchair data here.

Recently, the World Health Organization, the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals released wheelchair provision guidelines, which aim to improve timely access to appropriate products. The guidance is aimed at those with a role in planning, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of wheelchair provision. Find out more here.