It is urgent that the Government acts to end the postcode lottery of powered wheelchair provision and provide the funding required so tha NHS wheelchair services can properly meet people's needs.

Recommendations

1. Primary Care Trusts and other Commissioners should be required to involve Wheelchair Services in commissioning decisions so that everyone’s needs can be met.
2. National eligibility criteria for EPIOCs should be set and Wheelchair Services should be required to work within them uniformly across the UK.
3. The needs of carers should always be taken into account when assessments are made for powered wheelchairs.
4. Age should not be a barrier to eligibility for an EPIOC and the disparities between different areas’ approaches to the ability of young children to control a powered chair safely should be eliminated.
5. The voucher scheme should be used solely to help individuals to purchase extra, non-essential features, rather than as a way to get private or charitable funds to subsidise the meeting of an individual’s clinical needs.
6. Funding levels for Wheelchair Services should take into account the need for adequate staffing and staff training.
7. The Government should encourage all Primary Care Trusts to give Wheelchair Services a higher priority within each region and the NHS as a whole.