The NHS wheelchair service is 20 years old, and anyone who has tried to navigate their way around it can attest to the fact that it is not always as user-friendly as it might be.

So last week's announcement from NHS England that it is going to be overhauled is welcome. The current voucher scheme will be replaced by a Personal Wheelchair Budget, which should not only help to integrate wheelchair provision more fully into an individual's overall care and give more choice about where you can buy your chair, but also enable the NHS to gather statistics about wheelchair use, so that they can meet demand better, and deal with the wide geographical variations in provision.

You can read more about the service here

 

A burst of activity from some of the High Street banks should make access easier for disabled customers – at least, those with sensory impairments.

Their recent efforts are focused on internet banking: NatWest has completely overhauled their mobile app, to make it usable by blind and partially sighted customers, while RBS has introduced instant chat through a British Sign Language interpreter, for those deaf and hearing impaired customers who use BSL.

Barclays has been a trailblazer in accessibility, since they introduced the first talking ATMs in Britain in 2012. They are now extending their expertise to other businesses, particularly the 80% (yes, 80%) of small and medium sized businesses that aren't accessible to disabled customers, with a new portal where they can obtain free advice about providing services in a more inclusive way.

There are more details here

 

Now that the elections are behind us, and the new intake of mayors, councillors and parliamentarians have settled themselves down, maybe it is time to give some thought to a minority that is woefully underrepresented in politics.

There are still too few women elected to be representative of roughly half of the population, and the situation is considerably worse for ethnic minorities. But both of those pale into insignificance when compared with the representation of people with disabilities.

In Scotland, where just one MSP out of 129 considers himself as disabled, the government is piloting a £200,000 democratic participation fund, to try and redress the balance.

More details here

 

This is the only week dedicated to raising awareness and funds for children with life-shortening conditions, and those who care for them.

The campaign this year will put families first, to improve public understanding of what life is really like when you are caring for a child who is seriously ill. It will also highlight how precious family time is and how children’s palliative care services across the UK provide vital support to thousands of families and help them treasure their time together. 

You can read more about Children's Hospice Week and the charity behind it, Together for Short Lives, here

 

The choice of inclusive playground equipment just got a bit wider, as GL Jones Playgrounds add an accessible pull slider to their range.

If you haven't come across one of these before, they combine fun with useful therapy, as they enable children to build their upper body strength and handgrip, by pulling themselves along. The slider is accessible from a wheelchair, and the curved design of the overhead rails allows children of different sizes and abilities to use it. You can see more here

If you provide high quality products and services, and you would like to reach our site visitors and newsletter readers, please email derek@independentliving.co.uk

 

In last week's update about PIP assessments, I mentioned that the idea of automatically recording these sessions was mooted. This resulted in quite a lot of chat in our Facebook group, and a useful warning from one member that, however tempting, covert recording with your mobile phone is a no-no. If you want to record proceedings, you need to let them know in advance, and provide your own equipment which will allow you to produce two copies of the recording. Fuller details are included in Atos Healthcare's FAQs

My latest article for Disability Horizons is all about beds and bedrooms, and making life as comfortable as possible. You can read it here.

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Until next time, all good wishes,

Frances