Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced new measures to speed up delivery of wheelchairs to patients who need them.

The Measures announced to the Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee include:

• establishing a single organisation with responsibility for managing and delivering equipment to create a specialist, dedicated service – currently five centres issue equipment across Wales;
• developing new all-Wales indicators to show performance across the country in ensuring fast access to equipment, to focus local NHS organisations’ attention on reducing waits;
• a review of current waiting list processes so that waits for wheelchairs are brought within overall waiting time targets – currently there is no target setting a maximum wait for wheelchairs; and,
• a review of the commissioning and provision of wheelchairs for short-term loan purposes.

A project board will be established to take forward the measures and will report by June 2010.

Link: Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee.