Personal Wheelchair Budget

Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWB)

Patient Information

Community Wheelchair Service

The Patient Information Leaflets page on the Trust website is available on the link: https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/patient-information-leaflets or scan the QR code.

• Author ID: RB 
• Leaflet ref: CM 282
• Version: 2
• Leaflet title: Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWB)
• Last review: December 2021
• Expiry Date: December 2023

Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWB)

After an assessment, if you are eligible to receive a wheelchair from the NHS, you will have a personal wheelchair budget. This is a ‘virtual’ amount of money allocated to meet your assessed needs. It is designed to give you more choice over your wheelchair, one which meets your assessed needs and any specific requirements you identify as being important to you.

You can decide to use your personal wheelchair budget in the following ways:

1: Notional Personal Wheelchair Budget- An NHS Wheelchair

(Which you do not have to pay for)

Use your personal wheelchair budget within NHS services. Accept the NHS wheelchair prescribed for you. This will be supplied, repaired, and maintained by the NHS at no charge to you. It remains property of the NHS and must be returned when it is no longer needed.

2: Notional Personal Wheelchair Budget with Contribution

(Contribute to your NHS Wheelchair)

Use your personal wheelchair budget within NHS services and add a contribution to upgrade or add extra features to the wheelchair prescribed for you. During your assessment, the wheelchair therapy staff will offer you advice and support to do this.

The amount of your personal wheelchair budget is how much it would cost the NHS to provide a wheelchair to meet your clinical needs, and you pay the difference between this amount and the cost of the wheelchair or extra features you have chosen. Another agency/organisation could support you with the funding of this.

With this option, the wheelchair remains the property of the NHS and will be maintained by the Wheelchair Service.  You will be responsible for any replacement costs of these extra features. You are required to return the wheelchair when it is no longer needed.

3: Third Party Personal Wheelchair Budget

(Access a Wheelchair from Outside the NHS)

Use your personal wheelchair budget to access a wheelchair of your choice from an independent supplier outside of the NHS. This option is only available when the wheelchair therapy team agree this is clinically appropriate for you to do this.

The amount of your personal wheelchair budget is how much it would cost the NHS to provide a wheelchair to meet your clinical needs, and we will give you a contribution towards the cost of repair and maintenance of your chosen wheelchair. If you choose a wheelchair which costs more than the amount of your personal wheelchair budget, you will have to meet the additional cost yourself. Another charity/organisation could support you with this.

At your assessment, our staff will provide you with details of your personal wheelchair budget, a copy of your personal wheelchair prescription, and a list of authorised suppliers you can access your wheelchair from.

Once you have chosen your wheelchair from one of the suppliers, you will need to book a follow up appointment at the wheelchair service which the supplier will also attend. At this appointment, the wheelchair therapist will check that your chosen wheelchair is clinically suitable for you so that it can be passed for payment and handed over to you. You are advised to avoid making any payment to your chosen supplier for anything before then. You will not be entitled to claim a Personal wheelchair budget retrospectively if you purchase a wheelchair privately.

With this option, you will own the wheelchair and will be responsible for all its repair and maintenance. Your chosen wheelchair is expected to last for at least 5 years and if your wheelchair breaks before this time, it is your responsibility to replace it.

What to Expect at Your Assessment

At your appointment if you are eligible to receive a wheelchair from the NHS we will:

• Carry out a clinical assessment to establish your needs and discuss how a wheelchair will help you achieve your goals
• Develop a personal wheelchair support plan with you
• Advise you on your options and assist you in deciding how you want to use personal wheelchair budget

Before your appointment, we recommend that you think about what is important to you and how a wheelchair will make a difference to your life. Once your personal wheelchair budget is handed over, the wheelchair service will not be able to offer you something else if you change your mind. However, you may ask for a review should your clinical needs change.