Before I make enquiries (and be subjected to a hundred unwanted emails a week 
), does anyone have experience of chair rental? quality, choice, cost, recommended companies etc.
Mum was assessed a year ago. OT recommended a certain chair, we waited three months for it to arrive only for it to be the wrong chair incorrectly labelled as the right one. After an eight month wait, last week the first incorrect chair was removed but the replacement is faulty and, as the engineer who came to have a look this morning said, not fit for purpose. Hopefully we wonāt have another eight month wait, but Iād still like to source a chair for Mum while we wait for a replacement.
Thanks
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Hi @Latreia_18071, I would suggest get a temp one from a charity shop, as it surprising what they have in stock and it does not break the bank.
Can you just clarify if you mean wheel chair or armchair?
Oh sorry. A profiling chair, not wheelchair.
Iāve edited title to make it more clear. Thanks
Hi Michael
Mum would have to be assessed for the correct chair that meets her needs (the rental companies will do this), otherwise I would have bought a secondhand chair privately.
Good suggestion though, and may be helpful for others.
I am dismayed that after a year mum still doesnāt have a comfortable chair. Iād be making a formal complaint to the LA or organisation concerned. Useless. Have you thought about a wanted ad on Freecycle or your local paper. When mum died I left her chair in her nursing home for others to benefit from. There are always ads locally where someone is trying to find a new home for equipment no longer needed.
@Latreia_18071 Hi! I completely random thought - I know the hospice who helped us with Dad- during a general chat- told me sometimes they redirect used/no longer needed homeaids and chairs and stuff that people haveā¦I still canāt quite believe that some stuff canāt be recycled by the councilā¦whole other storyā¦
Anyways - perhaps contact local hospices and see if they KNOW of anyone who has - to the measurements youāve /the OTs taken - the right chair or IF THEIR OT can come out to check/support/help
I cannot express just how wonderful our local hospice was before, during and after everything with Dad, and the breadth & diversity of what they do is not common knowledgeā¦Sooooo perhaps yours could help somehow?!?
Random thought - hospices may have direct/indirect experience of chair rental OR could get you one OR could have an OT inhouse to check it all out for you FASTER and better than the council setup?!?
Hi Victoria
Thank you for the suggestion, itās definitely not an avenue I would have considered but makes perfect sense. Weāre up to our ears in items and equipment as Mumās needs and abilities have changed. Stuff comes in faster than I can return/give away sometimes.
Iāll update you.
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Ooohhhhhh it could be like the Noel Edmonds Multi-coloured Swap shop exchange of home-aids!!! How cool would THAT beā¦(I canāt tell you exactly how it works because I could never watch it, I had piano lessons!)
Hi bowlingbun,
Mum has a lovely OT who has confirmed this afternoon that the chair delivered last week was not what she ordered. She is quite cross and is āgoing back to panelā but did warn me we could be waiting weeks to get this rectified. Of course, I already guessed as much which is why I would like to rent or arrange something as a stopgap.
Iām a poor advocate at times - I rarely chase, trusting people to be on it, you know? - but I do think I will register a complaint and copy in the councillor for adult social care.
Thank you
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Thatās not a bad idea Victoria. Our excess equipment has to take on new life. Walking frames are now clothes horses, the mobile commode is a set of shelves. No room in the house for the wheelchair, it lives in the boot of the car, along with all the boxes for recycling 
I didnāt watch swap shop either, perhaps it clashed with Tiswas or something?
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Ohhhhh Tiswas!! YES - where Lenny Henry started, Chris Tarrant got big and ohhhh what was her nameā¦
I couldnāt see that either 'cos of piano lessons but the odd episodeā¦condensed milkā¦Ooooooooookay and custard?!?
need to ask @Chris_22081 - Iāll just say Crackerjack!!!
We have commodes and zimmers in the garageā¦the wheelchair is back in use in the boot of the car - they all live there I think
I believe you are thinking of Sally James on Tiswas! Bob Carolgees and Spit The Dog also appearedā¦ I enjoyed the adult version āOTTā when I could sneak a watch (parents would have seriously disapproved!)
It would be good to have a simple form of Swap Shop for unwanted/needed medical appliances. Make life a lot easier for a lot of people (bringing post back on topic!) Oh alright then āCRACKERJACK!!!ā
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Panels are unlawful! Talk to our CUK helpline.
Hi bowlingbun
I have to admit your reply was ādirect to the jugularā but very useful in that it was just the shake needed to make me more assertive.
The OT and assessor visited yesterday and the chair that was originally ordered ten months ago has been upgraded from manual to motorised. While we wait for the chair, a secondhand version (manual, I think), is being delivered this week to replace the unsuitable chair that Mum was never assessed for and is finding very uncomfortable.
Thanks everyone.
Great, super quick result. Happy to help. None of us asked to be carers and training is seldom available. On the forum there is almost always someone who has experienced something another carer asks for help with, so just ask.
I came across a pay scale for social workers where I live a while ago.
Ā£35,000 + basic rate.
Area Manager Ā£60,000
Director for Learning Difficulties. Ā£120,000
Me? Nothing.
I donāt think itās unreasonable for trained people getting this amount of money to do what they were trained to do.
Never forget that they are public SERVANTS.
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Often THEY need reminding THEY are Public SERVANTS and WE pay them. Some are too full of themselves to remember their responsibility is to provide for people in need. If they were the ones struggling you can bet there would be action!
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