Mrs A complained that her adult son, Mr B, who has severe autism, lost access to day services because the Health Board refused to allow him to use a manual wheelchair to access transport. She said that the Health Board had instead offered the use of a powered wheelchair for transit, but she was concerned that the user manual contained a warning against using the chair for this purpose. She said that, in her view, the manual wheelchair is safe to use in transit and that staff should be offered training to use the manual chair appropriately.
Having considered information provided by Mrs A and the Health Board, the Ombudsman was concerned that there had been missed opportunities to request a reassessment of the suitability of the powered wheelchair by the Appliance and Limb Advisory Service (“ALAS” – operated by a different health board). It also appeared that the Health Board could have done more to engage with Mrs A to better understand and address her concerns about the use of the powered wheelchair.
The Health Board agreed to, within 1 month, request an urgent re-assessment by ALAS of the suitability of the powered wheelchair for Mr B as a means to access transport to day services in comparison to other available options, and to request that it be expedited as far as possible. It also agreed to engage with Mrs A as far as possible pending the outcome of the assessment, regarding her safety concerns about the use of the powered wheelchair and commit that, should those be overcome, it will assist her and her husband to find a storage solution for the wheelchair on their property which is agreeable to them.