Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of NHS wheelchairs.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services. It is therefore the responsibility of ICBs to review and assess the quality of the provision of their commissioned National Health Service wheelchair services.

NHS England supports ICBs to commission effective, efficient and personalised wheelchair services. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on 9 April 2025 which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of NHS wheelchairs by AJM Healthcare.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The safety of all patients, whether they are treated in the National Health Service or the independent sector, is a top priority for the Government.

NHS England is aware there have been several separate complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare, which are being dealt with on an individual basis by the ombudsman’s office. NHS England has flagged this to the relevant integrated care boards (ICBs), who are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on 9 April 2025, which sets out quality standards relevant to all suppliers regardless of Care Quality Commission registration status, and statutory requirements for ICBs. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/

There are a range of providers of NHS wheelchair services across England. ICBs are responsible for monitoring service provision and effectively managing contracts with their commissioned providers. Therefore, we would encourage those with concerns regarding the service and support provided by an NHS wheelchair service to raise them directly with the local ICB.