Advice needed about wheelchair options

Everyday living
1

Hi

My husband has SPMS and he is coming to the point of needing a wheelchair pretty much full time. He has been fighting this for years but things are coming to a head. He has been referred for an electric wheelchair but I’m not convinced it will be the sort he needs. He loves being outdoors on rough terrain (we live on a farm). I know you can get all terrain chairs but transferring from one to another is such a huge effort if it needs to be a daily thing. Do the NHS consider this kind of thing?

Also does anybody know about or had any experience of a make of wheelchair which is all-terrain but can also been used indoors? One that he could get into in the morning and just roll out the door into the mud!

Thanks

Juliet

2

Hi Juliet,

Sorry to hear about your husband. Does he get PIP for mobility at enhanced rate? If so the ££ would pay for a motorised wheelchair. If he doesn’t it sounds as though he may be entitled to something.

If you live anywhere near Manchester there is a mobility show at Event City this week on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th where there are going to be over 100 cars, mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs.

Hope you find something suitable.

Jen x

3

Hi Juliet

Have you looked at the Trikinetic website? Their GTE may be an option? £££ though!

Sarah

4

Wow, they are amazing! ^^^^ Want one!!

5

If your question is - what kind of powerchair do NHS Wheelchair Services provide?

The Invacare Fox is being offered to me - I will try it out this week.

http://www.invacare.co.uk/fox-ma-55foxpwcen

Another 6 wheeled chair is on offer, not sure which make though, but this is for home use. Will let you know later.

Perhaps you should go for a powerchair at home like the NHS one, and a scooter for on the farm.

TGA BREEZE S4 MOBILITY SCOOTER is used by the disabled ramblers. You can buy them cheaper on ebay.

You also have to consider cleaning the tyres every time he comes in the door. You will have mud everywhere!

All the best,

Fay

6

Hi

One relatively simple option is to get a Freewheel wheelchair attachment. This is a large wheel which clips onto the front of a manual wheelchair. The problem with going off road in a normal manual chair is that the front castors easily get stuck in ay little rut or obstacle. But because the Freewheel attachment is larger, it can easily roll over things like that. I’ve only used mine once, but it definitely helped.

Dan

7

I have a invarcare spectra plus and it is is between 7 to 8 years old and it is used every day but is looked after very well. and im having a problem with battery case cracking and breaking. the first set of case lmoasted me 5 years without any problem. then i have a pair that broke after 8 months so my wheelchair service replaced them with new ones. then the 3 set last me only 3/4 months and now they have broken and waiting for them to be replaced. ji sent picture of them to invarcare and they are looking into the problems. just wondered if anybody has had this problem or im i just very unlucky. this is coursing me so much stress and worries. i have even got to the stage where im losing sleep over worrying about them letting me down when on my own or in the middle of the roads. hopeful someone will let me know why this is happening. i have got to the stag where im worried and loss confidence in the wheelchair now. thanks alot

8

You need a new powerchair. NHS Wheelchair Services should issue a new powerchair every 5 years, so you need to get

an appointment to discuss your mobility needs.