Keeping you informed…
From
the Chairman’s Desk
The Wheelchair Users Group is now
in its eleventh year! We opened our new headquarters in the Golden Valley Shopping
Centre Folkestone in June last year. The organisation has come a long way from
humble beginnings in 1992, building up a good reputation along the way throughout
the county with wheelchair users, their enablers and health and social professionals.
We have a good team at the office that not only gets the job done but also has great laughs along the way. Equally important, our support staff, sometimes unseen or unheard volunteers for undertaking all the things that get taken for granted and who support our services. The Wheelchair Users Group are fortunate indeed to have such people who give their time and effort, without them it would be very difficult to run the charity.
To run any charitable organisation takes money but thanks to our own fundraising efforts; i.e. advertising revenue, income from our mobility scheme, sponsorship, and the grants we receive from Charitable Trusts, KCC Social Services and the NINE Primary Care Trust we are able to provide an excellent service. We are grateful for the donations we receive from our members and supporters and also the annual subscriptions from all those who use our services. The introduction to paid membership last year was disappointing to say the least, but we would rather have 300 people who pay and value our service, than 1200, who do not. After all £6 or £10 is not a great deal to ask, for the help, information, equipment and support we provide, is it?
So if you know anyone with mobility problems who may need help or support, please point them in our direction.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers, members and supporters a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Allen Jones
AGM and Disability Information/Mobility day Friday 26th September 2003
Sixty-three people attended our
successful AGM and Disability day. Forty-four were disabled people, enablers
and personal assistants, including nineteen representatives from the charity,
statutory and voluntary sector: Seventy-nine people sent in apologies, many
being unable to attend due to the lack of available transport.
The day was a really interesting and interactive event with very good speakers.
The importance of information being the key in opening doors for an independent
life was the theme of the day. Many of the barriers faced by disabled people
were slowly being removed, thanks in part, to the work of the Wheelchair Users
Group and other user led disability organisations in setting a positive example
by showing that just because you use a wheelchair or have a disability you are
unable to contribute. Quite the contrary, disabled people can and do make difference.
Joe Hennessy OBE Chairman Disabled
Drivers Association: Mobility Presentation.
Joe gave some background on his long career. His aim had always been that disabled
people should have access to support systems in health and social services at
the point of need, not at sometime in the future. It is no good providing services
six months down the line when people have already become isolated and in many
cases confined to their homes. He then gave some very interesting statistics
on Disability, Disability Living Allowance and the number of Blue Badge Holders,
even providing a breakdown of badge holders in Kent. He then spoke about his
role as a founder Governor of Motability. He then briefly touched on the work
of the charity in providing cars and powered wheelchairs to disabled people
in return for using their DLA mobility component. He ended by saying it was
a privilege to be invited as a guest speaker and access to personal mobility
should be a right for all disabled people.
Louise Smyth Direct Payments –
(Our Lives… Our Choice)
Louise gave a brief overview on her role as the new KCC Support Scheme Coordinator
for Direct Payments. She went on to say she uses Direct Payments and has done
so for five years. Our Lives… our choice is what direct payments are all
about. Providing you qualify for Direct Payments, YOU have the choice
and control to purchase your own care from a Care Agency or employ your own
personal assistant. A Direct Payment enables you to manage your own life so
that you can do… What You Want, When You Want and With Whom You Want…
Just like everyone else!
Louise also covered assessment and eligibility of Direct Payments and what it
could be used for.
Tina Parsons Independence Technology
The iGLIDE Manual Assist Wheelchair is a new state of the art wheelchair with
power assist built into the push rims. It allows the user to travel over rough
ground, across gravel, over grass and up slopes with minimum effort. Just a
gentle touch of the rims brings on the power. The more pressure applied the
faster it will go. It also has an intelligent braking system, again, gently
apply pressure and the chair will glide down the slope safely. It’s designed
and styled giving the appearance of a normal wheelchair. All the works are under
the seat including the battery.
Peter Budgen Chairman Centre for
Independent Living Kent (CILK)
Peter gave a brief introduction about his business background. He contacted
Polio as a child using crutches to assist his mobility. Became a full-time wheelchair
user around two years ago.
Peter, like many people in the audience, had wanted to see a centre for independent
living in Kent, run by disabled people, providing services for disabled people.
The Centre for Independent living came about after a conference in 2001 on independent
living and direct payments. CILK has cost over 30,000 to set up, with the remaining
money coming from Social Services, The British Red Cross and Scope, which includes
an office in Maidstone.
He was also pleased to announce that CILK had recently appointed a part-time
manager.
Terry Day: Exploits of a blind
powerchair user.
Terry the final speaker for the day gave a brief introduction on his life so
far and living with his blindness and mobility problems. He had the audiences
roaring with laughter, when he and a friend were going to visit some friends.
They were certain they knew the route, they crossed over the road in the direction
they wanted to go, but unknown to them they ended up going round and round a
roundabout, until some kind person redirected them. He also recalled his first
and last effort at using a washing machine when he filled the kitchen with soapsuds,
and how is wife told him off.
A very enjoyable and productive day was enjoyed by all those present.
NHS Countywide Wheelchair User Group
The Wheelchair Users’ Group
facilitates the Countywide Wheelchair User Forum working in partnership with
the NHS Wheelchair Service on the provision and future development of that service.
The Forum is funded by the Primary Care Trusts in Kent, and the Wheelchair Users’
Group.
It was set up to represent the views and interests of wheelchair users countywide,
on the provision and development of NHS Wheelchair Services in Kent. By joining
the Countywide User Group, you have the opportunity to air your opinions on
all aspects of using a wheelchair to NHS professionals in order to influence
change.
This active forum of wheelchair users and managers undertook a review of eligibility
criteria in 2002 for NHS provision for the six wheelchair centres in Kent. The
review was undertaken with the aim of providing consistency in NHS wheelchair
provision. This was completed in February of this year. We now have one set
of eligibility criteria in operation across the county. Early next year the
forum will look at repair and servicing arrangements.
If you have a wheelchair provided by the NHS wheelchair Service in Canterbury,
Dartford, Folkestone, Maidstone, Medway or Tunbridge Wells, we are interested
in your views.
So, if you would like to contribute on the issues that affect you why not come
along to our next meeting at Preston Hall, Aylesford on Friday 30th
January 2004 commencing at 11am - 1.45pm. Membership of this forum is free
and open to any wheelchair user, carer/enabler and those with an interest in
NHS provision. Reasonable expenses can be paid. For further information, directions
etc, please call 01303 226500.
Under Funded &
Under Resourced
I read with real concern that Wheelchair users in Somerset are being forced
to go private to get the services they need, according to a new survey.
The survey by Somerset Access and Inclusion Network (SAIN) was backed by Somerset Social Services, Mendip Primary Care Trust and the charity Leonard Cheshire Foundation.
It found problems with “most aspects of the NHS wheelchair services in Somerset” and concluded that they were slow, inaccessible and of poor quality and led to disabled people turning to private wheelchair suppliers.
It said one of the biggest problems was delays in assessments, reassessments and in obtaining replacement chairs. The report called for major improvements, and made 11 key recommendations.
Among these were calls for a new organisation “to take clear responsibility for managing the wheelchair services” and provide continuity of care. The report also called for quicker assessments and local centres with a wide choice of wheelchairs and equipment and professional and unbiased advice. Those surveyed found many of the problems stemmed from NHS UNDERFUNDING.
Survey co-ordinator Ann England said
she was “shocked” by the findings of the survey. But she added that
strong financial backing for the survey showed there was a “general willingness”
to put the problem right. “Although some good work is being done there
is still a long way to go.”
Comment
Our NHS wheelchair services in Kent have also been under-funded and under-resourced
for many, many years. With people living much longer, more and more people will
have mobility problems, so the demand for wheelchairs will continue to rise.
Managers and staff do the best they can with limited resources. Is it not about
time that the Government and Health Service Commissioners stopped treating the
NHS wheelchair service like a ‘Cinderella Service’ and gave
NHS wheelchair centres the increased funding and resources they and wheelchair
users deserve.
News page last updated 15th
December 2003.