National Assembly for Wales

Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee

Wheelchair Services In Wales

Call For Evidence

Announcement Of Committee Inquiry: Wheelchair Services In Wales

The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry into wheelchair services in Wales and is calling for those with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence.

Background

Wheelchair services in Wales have attracted criticism in recent years, in particular around waiting times both for assessment and provision.

The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has therefore launched an inquiry into the assessment and provision of wheelchair services and the effectiveness of these services in meeting the needs of wheelchair users in Wales.

Terms of Reference

The Committee has agreed the following terms of reference for its inquiry:

To inquire into the provision of wheelchair services in Wales for children and adults, including:

  • Waiting times for assessments and  wheelchair provision
  • The arrangements for commissioning and providing wheelchairs through the Artificial Limb and Appliance Service and through local arrangements for short-term use and the possibilities for developing new arrangements within the new NHS structures
  • The effectiveness of wheelchair services in meeting individual needs, such as those of children and young people, adults in employment, war veterans, and those with progressive conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis.
  • The arrangements for reviewing individual need and for the updating, maintenance and repair of wheelchairs.
  • Equality considerations in the provision of wheelchairs including, for example, geographical variation; provision across age-groups; issues affecting BME groups and Welsh speakers; and the accessibility of wheelchair services in terms of location, opening times and information.
  • The use and effectiveness of performance and quality indicators in wheelchair services.
  • The resourcing of wheelchair services in Wales.

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below, to arrive no later than Friday 18 December 2009. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to health.wellbeing.localgovt.comm@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk. Further guidance on the submission of evidence is attached. I would be grateful if you could share this request with other interested parties or, where appropriate, any of your member organisations.

The Committee may call on those who have submitted written evidence to supplement it in oral evidence to the Committee.  Please indicate in your response whether you would be prepared to give evidence in person.

Witnesses should be aware that once written evidence has been submitted to the Committee it is treated as the property of the Committee. It is the Committee’s intention to place written papers on its website, and they may subsequently be printed with the report.   

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published, and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.

12 November 2009

Membership of the Committee: Lorraine Barrett AM, Peter Black AM, Andrew R T Davies AM, Irene James AM, Ann Jones AM, Helen Mary Jones AM, Dai Lloyd AM, Val Lloyd AM, Darren Millar AM (Chair)