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Wheel chairs - rent or buy?


Kitty
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Does anyone have any experience of using a lightweight travel wheel chair?

My son is going to need a wheel chair for at least a year (in France).  He can't walk long distances because his bones are growing quicker thn his tendons.  His French boarding school have suggested a wheel chair for their weekly outings (they go to museums etc on Wednesday afternoons).

I see from this Forum that renting one from the local pharmacy in France (presumably with a prescription?)  is about 15 euros per week but these are more robust.  Halfords in the UK are offering lightweight travel wheel chairs for £60, which makes better financial sense.  Are they any good?

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[quote user="Kitty"]Does anyone have any experience of using a lightweight travel wheel chair?

My son is going to need a wheel chair for at least a year (in France).  He can't walk long distances because his bones are growing quicker thn his tendons.  His French boarding school have suggested a wheel chair for their weekly outings (they go to museums etc on Wednesday afternoons).

I see from this Forum that renting one from the local pharmacy in France (presumably with a prescription?)  is about 15 euros per week but these are more robust.  Halfords in the UK are offering lightweight travel wheel chairs for £60, which makes better financial sense.  Are they any good?[/quote]

The lightweight travel one in Halfords is intended to be pushed by another person - do you want your son to be able to push himself along?

The other thing is that you would not need a prescription to hire a wheelchair. The local pharmacy will rent them out without prescription - you will need to show ID.  If it is for an extended period, the rate would be lower than €15 per week.

Regards

Pickles

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I looked at the Halfords wheelchairs and they have do a self-propelled version (large wheels with a "rim-handle"). At £49.99 that's very cheap, so I don't know how robust it would be. You'd need to see it in the "flesh".

We had a Remploy Stowaway like this one http://www.1stchoicemobility.co.uk/wheelchairs-and-walkers/lightweight-wheelchairs/remploy-stowaway-folding-wheelchair/prod_223.html for my mother and it was excellent. The small wheels enable it to be folded and stowed in the boot. It is only for attendant use though, the occupant can't propel it him/herself. Would your son want that? I suspect he may wish to be independant if possible? It's a lot more expensive than the Halford's one. We had it for 7 years, so there are no durability issues.

I'd say that the Halford's one is probably worth a try. Consider the use (hammering!) it'll get at school/college etc. Robustness could be an issue. Lightweight chairs are generally intended for limited use, going shopping, visiting etc where the occupant isn't wheelchair bound continually,. Also consider the occupant's weight; the heavier the person the more it is likely fail under the strain.

"Hospital" versions are usually very heavy!

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If your son has a medical condition which affects his mobility, then your GP will be able to issue an ordnance for the supply of a wheelchair without cost to you.  Your pharmacie won't actually keep stocks of wheelchairs themselves but will order one from a medical equipment leasing company.  If you explain his situation, they will offer him the chair most appropriate to his needs.

When Mrs Sunday broke her ankle in our car accident, she was prescribed a wheelchair for six weeks and when we explained to our pharmacie that arthritis in her wrists would make it difficult for her to wheel a heavy chair herself , they came up with a neat lightweight model.  When it arrived, one of the pharmacie girls popped the chair in the boot of her Twingo and delivered it to us in her lunch hour.....

 

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Useful pointers there SD, thanks.

I should have said that we brought our wheelchair with us from UK when we moved here, and had used it for a couple of years over there. Different circumstances, but we needed something small and lightweight to be lifted in and out of the boot frequently, but at the same time robust enough, and we bought it ourselves to complement the chair provided by the care home. I'll also add that small wheels give a bumpier ride.

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Mmm.  Useful information.  Thank you one and all.

My son doesn't need it for continual use but just when the weekly school trips are too long to walk.  A lightweight one does make it easier for the school to load it onto the school coach and carry it up stairs etc.  My son's school is on lots of different levels.  I think that I had better ask both my son and his housemaster whether he should be pushed or self-propelled (or both) - I hadn't thought about that so thank you.

I am going to the doctors on Monday and so will ask about a prescription, which I didn't fully realise covered wheel chairs.  However, I don't want to keep using state facilities when the costs of buying one privately are affordable.  It is also for potentially a very long time.

Further feedback from anyone is most welcome.

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"However, I don't want to keep using state facilities when the costs of buying one privately are affordable. "

You are of course completely correct in your attitude, but if you are entitled to help it is nothing to be ashamed of asking for.  I need a couple of items to make my life a bit easier at the moment, and nobody here could understand that I was prepared to buy them .

I was told to see my 'assistante sociale' (which in my case I have not got [:)]) and get my costs of someone to help in the house reimbursed to the tune of about 3 € an hour.

If you do buy you may well find things better value from the UK, as there is a big market in ripping off the state by suppliers of equipment here which hikes the prices.

You may also find that you can get a prescription towards buying a wheelchair as opposed to just renting one.

Sorry two threads of thought have got a bit mixed in this post.

I hope you can pick out something useful

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