Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that National Health Service wheelchair services do not delay discharge of patients at spinal injury units as a result of not assessing them for their wheelchair until two weeks before their due discharge date.

No estimate has been made of the levels of repetition of wheelchair assessment, the impact on bed availability and associated costs.

The supply and maintenance of wheelchairs which fall outside the scope of Specialised Complex Disability Equipment Services are the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups. NHS England expects that assessment of patients and the subsequent supply and adjustment of wheelchairs is carried out within a suitable timeframe and to ensure the minimum of disruption.