WRosie Bremer, 52, from Portsmouth, applied for a wheelchair from the NHS but expected it would take almost a year to receive it. Since then, she has spent hundreds of dollars hiring her own car while she waits, even though she has motor neuron disease (MND).
Bremer is one of many people who have had problems with the private wheelchair company AJM Healthcare. The Health Services Ombudsman has directed AJM to improve its complaints system amid concerns about delays. Some people with disabilities have reported waiting up to two years to get a chair.
Even before she was diagnosed with MND, she had problems with her motor skills. “I first applied for a wheelchair around summer last year. I had mobility issues and didn’t know you could get a wheelchair from the NHS,” she says.
Bremer borrowed a personal wheelchair while he waited. Initially it was £100 a week, but as the term of the loan increased the cost fell to £30 a week. “I borrowed it as a short-term measure, but several months later, I’m still using it.”
To get the wheelchair, Bremer had to visit his GP twice for measurements. Afterwards, she received one home visit by a physical therapist organized through her AJM. It is the physical therapist’s job to order a wheelchair, but the initial appointment was canceled due to a staff member’s illness. “I had received a reservation letter, but no alternative reservations were booked in the system,” she says.
Finally, a physical therapist took measurements. We also discussed what kind of wheelchair she would need based on her clinical needs. A wheelchair was prescribed to her in January, a few months after she first inquired. “I wasn’t diagnosed with MND at the time, but I had a neuromuscular disease,” Bremer said.
In March 2024, Bremer received a diagnosis of motor neuron disease, which she says should mean her referral is “classified as urgent.”
she says: “I have contacted AJM Healthcare… [they] They don’t tell me anything like the expected arrival date of the wheelchair.
“I can’t get anything out of them other than the fact that there’s a backlog to deal with. I don’t know what that means…but that’s all I know.”
The wheelchair Bremer rented does not have any posture support features. She says, “As her head, neck, and back muscles weaken, she has become increasingly uncomfortable.” She also has rheumatoid arthritis and she feels that her arm support and joystick are inadequate. “It’s annoying. And as my condition progresses, it becomes very uncomfortable when I go out in my wheelchair because I no longer have proper back support for my head and neck.”
Wheelchairs are also expensive, and Bremer no longer works, having retired for medical reasons. So, with the help of her family, she is trying to temporarily purchase a wheelchair from a private vendor and defraying her expenses.
“MND is a complex disease, which means I have to deal with different bodies… navigating that adds to the incredible burden of having a disability,” she said. Ta.
