New wheelchair guidelines issued by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

Children and adults with muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular conditions will receive improved wheelchair assessments thanks to new wheelchair guidelines, published by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

The guidelines will be distributed to every Wheelchair Services in the UK and provide crucial information about the needs of children and adults with a neuromuscular condition. The guidelines will help Wheelchair Service staff plan for appropriate wheelchair and seating provision for these very specific and progressive conditions, as well as highlighting the constantly changing wheelchair needs.

Carol Walsh, from Leeds, has a son, Oliver 17, with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She is fully in support of the new guidelines. She said,
“We have had a hard time in the past trying to obtain the correct wheelchair for Oliver from our local Wheelchair Services and at one stage were offered a chair that was totally unsuitable. It has been a long drawn out process that has been frustrating and upsetting for us. These new guidelines will hopefully stop that happening for other families by helping the staff to recommend the correct wheelchair immediately without the battle we had to go through”

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign Director of Care, Lyn Inman, said:
“We have found that many Wheelchair Services do not come into regular contact with muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular conditions, and therefore their expertise in assessing individuals for the correct wheelchair varies dramatically. The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has produced these guidelines so that every wheelchair services is able to accurately provide the correct wheelchair for these relatively rare conditions, so every person with a neuromuscular condition can have a good quality of life and live as independently as possible.

The guidelines, called Wheelchair provision for children and adults with muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular conditions, have been launched at a conference in Leeds and will be showcased at two further conferences in Birmingham (29 June) and London (6 July).They have been produced by a working group that included Wheelchair Service managers, service users, independent professionals, and staff from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, The Jennifer Trust for SMA and Whizz-Kidz.

Peter Gage, from the National Wheelchair Managers Forum said,
“It has been a great privilege for me to work with some real experts from Muscular Dystrophy Campaign to produce these guidelines for Wheelchair Service Therapists and Managers. I am very enthusiastic about the guidelines because they will help staff around the UK to identify, with the wheelchair user, the most appropriate equipment to meet their postural, mobility and lifestyle needs. The guidelines are also a valuable resource of current best practice for wheelchair users with neuromuscular conditions.”

Anyone who would like a copy of the guidelines after 6 July please contact the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign on 020 7819 1814 or email publications@muscular-dystrophy.org. Copies are free to everyone but professionals will be charged £3 for postage and packing.