Pop-up wheelchair loan service to help ease the pressure on NHS services
British Red Cross has teamed up with Tesco in Scarborough to provide a pop-up wheelchair loan service to help ease the pressure on NHS services by freeing up beds and enabling patients to return home sooner.
The project aims to help vulnerable people regain their independence by improving their mobility.
British Red Cross says its research shows wheelchairs can support people to recover from illness and injury, improving choice, independence, and wellbeing. It hopes that convenient access to wheelchairs at Tesco sites will play a big part in helping people get back to life as normal and ensure no one is left behind because of mobility challenges.
As seen on This is the Coast, Geoff Cheshire, Head of the Mobility Aids Service at the British Red Cross, said: “Our partnership with Tesco is a vital link for our mobility aids service, providing wheelchairs to those in need within the community.
“We’re delighted that Tesco is continuing to provide car park spaces at convenient locations where our service users can go to get the equipment they need to enable them to be as active in their lives as possible.”
British Red Cross staff will be on hand once a week in the Tesco car park in Westwood to distribute wheelchairs on a click-and-collect basis.
Wheelchairs can be reserved using the Red Cross online booking system or via the phone by calling 0300 456 1914. Reservations will be assigned to an individual collection time from the Red Cross pop-up point, in the Tesco car park in Westwood.
Where the costs of the service are not covered by funding arrangements, users may be asked to pay a hire fee for the wheelchair. The service offers support to those who genuinely cannot afford to pay based on personal circumstances.
The pop-up service pilot scheme launched in 2021, in association with Tesco, which welcomed the wheelchair service to 11 stores in Wales and England. Due to the success of the pilot pop-ups supporting local communities access mobility support, the British Red Cross has expanded the service to a total of over 30 pop-ups in Tesco stores.
British Red Cross has 150 staff nationwide dedicated to keeping people mobile. It has continued to provide wheelchairs throughout the pandemic, often for those unexpected events like recovery after an accident or an operation.
British Red Cross is the biggest national provider of wheelchairs for short-term use. Last year, it loaned 53,700 mobility aids and made 87,000 deliveries through its community equipment service.
Clinicians, local authorities, and emergency responders can find out more about the service by calling 0300 456 1914.