In a debate on Wheelchair Provision today, Cllr Janet Finch-Saunders AM said:

“In April 2010, the Health Wellbeing and Local Government Committee found that more than 1 in 5 people in Wales who had been referred waiting for a complex, bespoke wheelchair, had been waiting over 6 months.

“Shockingly, some children in North Wales had to wait up to 2 years for a wheelchair!

“With life-shortening diseases, such as Motor Neurone Disease, waiting is simply not an option. Timely provision of suitable equipment is essential to maximise quality of life.

“One of the most heart-breaking issues I have come across as an Assembly Member is a constituent in desperate need of a suitable chair but who was still waiting after many months.

“The Welsh Government has broken promises of updates and reviews for too long and I want to see regular responses from the Minister for Health to waiting times.

“I am also supporting MS Society Cymru’s campaign for improved Direct Payments in Wales to give wheelchair users in Wales this same right as those in England to purchase a suitable wheelchair from an accredited supplied themselves.”