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W hen Rosy Bremer, 52, from Portsmouth, applied for a wheelchair from the NHS she expected it to take almost a year to arrive. She has spent hundreds since then hiring a private vehicle while she waits, despite having motor neurone disease (MND). Bremer is one of many who have had issues with the private wheelchair firm AJM Healthcare.

The health service ombudsman told AJM to improve its complaints system amid concerns about delays. Some disabled people have reported waiting up to two years for a chair. She had been having trouble with mobility before her diagnosis of MND.



“I applied for my first wheelchair around the summer last year. I had been having problems with mobility but was not aware I could get a wheelchair from the NHS,” she says. Bremer hired a private wheelchair while she waited, which initially cost £100 a week, although the costs later dropped to £30 a week as she had it for longer.

“I hired it as a short-term measure but months later I still have it.” To get a wheelchair, Bremer had to make two visits to her GP to be measured. Then she had one home visit from a physiotherapist organised through AJM.

It is the physio’s job to order the wheelchair but her first appointment was cancelled due to staff sickness. “The replacement appointment then wasn’t booked on the system, although I had received an appointment letter,” she says. Eventually, a physiotherapist took measurements.

They also discussed what kind of wheelchair was needed based on her .

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