Stoke-on-Trent wheelchair service still seeing long waits
Rachel Carter is unable to travel more than a mile from home in her powered wheelchair due to its faulty batteries
Councillors say it is ‘shocking’ that a paraplegic woman has been waiting six months for the batteries in her wheelchair to be replaced. Rachel Carter told scrutiny committee members at Stoke-on-Trent City Council that she is unable to travel more than a mile from home in her powered wheelchair due to its faulty batteries.
City councillors carried out a review into the wheelchair service commissioned by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board last year, after concerns were raised over service users facing lengthy delays. ICB officials gave the health and social care scrutiny committee an update on the progress in implementing the review’s recommendations.
They say that wheelchair service provider AJM Healthcare has been able to reduce the number of long waiters over the past year – in June there were 61 adults and 15 children waiting more than 52 weeks, compared to 182 adults and 47 children in 2024. But Rachel, a member of the wheelchair users representative group, told the committee that feedback from service users was still mostly negative, and relayed her own experience as an example.
She said: “When I picked my chair up in January, unfortunately the battery was flat. It broke down twice on the way home, and I had to be rescued once by somebody after I’d only gone a mile up the road
“They checked the chair and said they’d order another set of batteries. However, I still only have a range of two miles, which means I’m completely grounded – I can only got a mile from my house, it’s not safe to go any further than that. The battery won’t hold its charge.
“I was told I’d need to wait a month, but that was in January and I’m still waiting, and every time I ring I get the same message – it’s on order, and as soon as it’s here we’ll let you know. It would be helpful if people could be more straightforward about the amount of time we might be waiting.
“So many people are given the standard response – that it won’t take long, and invariably it just goes on and on and on. For a person with paraplegia this is my access to independence. My independence has been completely curtailed because I can’t go anywhere. There are far more people than me in this situation.”
The wheelchair users representative group is compiling a report on people’s experiences with the service. ICB officials plan to use the report to inform the procurement process for a new wheelchair service, with the current contract due to end next March.
Helen Lester, associate director of planned care at the ICB, acknowledged the problems experienced by Rachel, and said she would personally look into her case.
She said: “When we get that report it will be an opportunity to make sure that these concerns are taken on board so we can provide a good quality service with the new provider. It doesn’t mean that we can leave things untouched until then – we need to address that today as well.”
Committee members expressed disappointment that the service had not improved as much as they had wanted. Councillor Chandra Kanneganti said there was a ‘clear mismatch’ between the ICB’s report and the experience of service users such as Rachel.
Councillor Duncan Walker, cabinet member for adult social care and health integration, said: “For me, this is an absolute disgrace. There’s no other way of describing it. It’s absolutely shocking that someone with Rachel’s condition should be left like that due to faulty batteries for this length of time.”
One of the review’s recommendations was for commissioners and providers to visit support groups in order to listen to and address service users’ concerns. Kerris Morrell, head of portfolio for community transformation at the ICB, said a communications plan had been finalised to implement this recommedation.
She said: “It was put together collaboratively with the current provider and a number of other stakeholders including wheelchair service users, and there are various mechanisms for ongoing future communication and engagement. These include newsletters, bi-monthly forums, quarterly external support groups visits, open days and social media content.”
Committee members asked for the ICB officials to return in December to give a further update on the service.