Contact your local Wheelchair Service Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWB) Children's Service Information Complaints and Feedback

Preparing For Your Appointment What to expect when you have a video or clinic appointment, as well as information on what you may need to bring to your appointment, how to find us, plus details on patient transport.

Requesting information in an alternative format

To request information or any of our key documents is an alternative format such as braille, easy to read, larger print, audio or other format, please email us at enquiries@rosscare.co.uk quoting the publications title plus the format you require.

Clinic Appointments

Coming to clinic

Our clinical team assess your mobility, pressure, and postural support needs. Following a detailed discussion that includes your lifestyle and personal priorities, our clinicians will develop a care and support plan with you. We can then offer the most appropriate wheelchair, pressure cushion and/or postural support from our NHS range. 

We may work with community health and social care teams to ensure you receive a holistic service and are aware of all the options available to you. Our repair team will repair and maintain the equipment provided to you for as long as you require it. We have free disabled parking areas directly outside our service centres. If you will require assistance from your car into the service centre, please contact us before your appointment so we can arrange this for you.

When you arrive at reception, a member of our team will take your name and appointment details. If you require assistance from your car, we have a portering wheelchair available but please get in touch with us before your appointment so we can arrange this.  Most appointments start and finish on time, but please allow plenty of time for your appointment. If there is any delay, we will let you know and keep you updated.  

We often work closely with therapists within Social Care, Education and the Children Schools and Family (CSF) teams. If you are currently seeing a particular therapist, please inform them of the appointment, as we welcome their attendance.

Please also ensure you are wearing loose clothing as it is easier to assess your posture.

Video Appointments

We use an easy-to-use, secure video consultation platform for pre-arranged video appointments. If you are due to have a video consultation with us, we will schedule your appointment as normal and send you details of the appointment date and time as well as how to access the platform.

Learn More About Video Appointments

Children's Appointments

We aim to make the experience for all children attending our clinics as comfortable as possible. We have child friendly waiting areas and clinic rooms. If there is anything that may make the appointment easier for you or your child, please share this with us prior to the appointment.

Visit the Children's Service Page

Your Goals

Before your assessment, you will be asked to complete a Wheelchair Outcomes Assessment (WATCh) form. When completing this form, please consider how your wheelchair could support your goals. During your assessment, our wheelchair therapists will support you in identifying your health and wellbeing goals and desired outcomes.

Learn More About Wheelchair Outcomes

What to Expect at Your Appointment

You may see a Wheelchair Therapist (Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist), a Rehabilitation Engineer (RE), a Rehabilitation Technician (RET) or a Therapy Assistant. Your assessment will be carried out by the most appropriate member(s) of the team.

Your clinician will ask you questions about your medical history. They need to assess your posture and how you sit in your wheelchair. The postural assessment may require you to transfer onto the plinth. 

Assistance with a hoist or transfer aid will be provided if needed, but please bring your own sling or portable transfer aid, such as a transfer board. 

You will be asked if you are having any issues with your current wheelchair if you have one. Your height and weight may also need to be checked. 

We have some assessment equipment available on site, and you may be able to trial a wheelchair during your appointment. For specialist equipment, we may need to bring you back for a further appointment, but the therapist will be able to show you examples of different types of equipment that may be prescribed.

Please read our frequently asked questions below to help prepare for your appointment with us, if you have any additional queries please contact your local Wheelchair Service.

Please bring with you:

Any communication aid that you use.
Contact details of any therapists or consultants who are involved in your care.
Details of any current medication you are taking
Any medication that you may need to take while you are with us.
Any transfer aid you use, e.g. a hoist, sling or transfer board.
Any splints or braces, as these may affect the size and specification of the equipment we provide.
Your completed WATCh questionnaire (if applicable, this will be included with your appointment letter). 
Any snacks or drinks you may require.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How do I get to the Wheelchair Service?

    If your appointment is at the Wheelchair Service, please go to our website for details of how to find us and how to arrange transport if you need to.

    We are unable to provide transport, however you may be able to arrange patient transport through your GP. Details of how to book transport are included with your appointment letter, or if you have used the Transport service before, visit the NHS Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS), you will need your NHS number and date of birth to log in. 

    Please contact us if you need help to arrange your journey. We can provide you with directions in different formats or extra guidance.You may be entitled to help with transport costs.

    Visit the NHS website for more information www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs

  • What facilities do you have at the Wheelchair Service Centre Clinic?
    • We have free disabled parking areas directly outside the service centres, away from the main road. If you will require assistance from your car into the service centre, please contact us before your appointment so we can arrange this for you.
    • When you arrive at reception, a member of our team will take your name and appointment details. 
    • We have waiting areas with water coolers, but please bring any snacks or drinks you are likely to need. 
    • Please also bring any medication with you if you are likely to need it.
    • We have accessible toilets with a hoist. 
    • Our clinic rooms also have hoists and medical plinths.
    • Our clinic rooms are air-conditioned.
    • We have facilities to record your weight, either with you standing or seated in your wheelchair.
  • How long will my appointment be?

    Generally, appointments last between 45-90 minutes.

    Most appointments start and finish on time but please allow plenty of time for your appointment. If there is any delay, we will let you know and keep you updated.

  • What happens next?

    We will ask you to complete the NHS Friends and Family survey. We value your feedback as your experiences or suggestions are used to continually improve the service.

    If you share a ‘thank you’ compliment, this will be shared with the appropriate members of our team. These messages let us know when things are working well and enable us to share best practices across the UK, helping to improve wheelchair services.

    If you have completed a WATCh questionnaire, we will contact you again approximately 8 weeks after you have been provided with your wheelchair to follow up and see if it has met your expectations.

    If you have any additional questions after your appointment, our website has resources that may assist you, or you can contact us at any time.

  • Can I change or cancel my appointment?

    We acknowledge that there are many reasons why appointments need to be rearranged, sometimes at short notice, but unfortunately this can cause delays for everyone.

    Therefore, if you are unable to keep your appointment, please make every effort to cancel it well in advance, so that it can be offered to someone else.

    If you no longer require an appointment, please contact us so we can amend our records and offer your appointment to someone else. 

    Non-attendance and cancellations at short notice, without a valid reason, deprive other service users of an appointment. If you do not attend your first appointment and have not contacted us, we will write to you to ask you to contact the service.

  • Can I bring another professional to my appointment?

    We work closely with therapists within Social Care, Education and other Community Services. If any other healthcare practitioner is involved in your care and you would like them to attend your appointment, please inform them. We welcome their attendance.

  • I need an interpreter; can you arrange this?

    Yes, please let us know what language you will need an interpreter for and we can arrange this for your appointment. We can also arrange for a sign language support and a chaperone if you require one.