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Wheelchair via Shutterstock

Irish children are being 'squashed' in wheelchairs too small for them

About 40,000 people use wheelchairs in Ireland today.

IRISH CHILDREN ARE using wheelchairs that are too small for them, resulting in boys and girls being ‘squashed’, something that could have major consequences on their development.

That is the worrying finding of new research published by the University of Limerick today.

The study’s leader, Dr Rosie Gowran, says using incorrectly-sized wheelchairs can impact children’s limbs and put them at risk of chest infections and pressure ulcers.

Long waiting times often mean growing children are left in the same chairs for too long.

“The focus of this research was wheelchair and seating provision in the Republic of Ireland, which has developed and grown rapidly over the past twenty years, seeing an increase in localised, more accessible specialist services and the availability of advanced technology,” explained Dr Gowran.

“However, even with these positive developments, current wheelchair provision, as with many other countries, lacked uniformity and could not be regarded as sustainable.

A wheelchair becomes a person’s legs, it becomes part of their skin, and it is a person’s freedom.  A wheelchair, if you need one, is essential for survival and it should be seen as a priority.

“As one participant said when the wheelchair breaks down it is like cutting their two legs off. The current system or lack thereof in Ireland needs to be addressed urgently by Government,” she added.

Currently, about 40,000 people use wheelchairs and seating assistive technology in Ireland.

The HRB-funded study – completed in partnership with SeatTech, Enable Ireland as the host organisation and the University of Limerick – highlighted some major issues with wheelchair provision, including:

  • The length of waiting times also impacts people with progressive conditions.
  • Breakdown and repair services can be ad hoc and inadequate.
  • Refurbishment, reissue and recycling services are not yet regulated appropriately.

According to the researchers, this is a human rights issue.

“This research has highlighted that the importance of wheelchair provision is misunderstood and    there are four key processes which need to be addressed nationally, these include access to services, assessment and delivery, tracking, tracing and taking care of equipment and education and research,” continued Dr Gowran.

“I call on the Irish Government to bring these issues onto the programme for government and sanction a national review of wheelchair services as a matter public priority, equating the importance of appropriate and regulated provision to the prescription of pharmaceutical drugs.

As one research participant told me, you wouldn’t let someone do heart surgery on you if they hadn’t been to college, why should I let someone fix my wheelchair if they don’t know what they are doing?

“While the impact of inadequate and unregulated infrastructure may not be immediately apparent, the side effects may have long-term and or lethal consequences.”

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18 Comments
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    Mute john g mcgrath
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    Feb 19th 2014, 12:55 PM

    And yet we pay billions to unsecured un guaranteed bond holders !!! As our children are squashed into used and undersized wheel chairs
    Have we no shame ?

    56
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    Mute poo poo
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    Feb 19th 2014, 1:46 PM

    Would parents not buy a new wheelchair intsead of coming with the hand out?

    12
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    Mute Natalie O'Brien Hughes
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:46 PM

    @poo poo, it must be great to have tens of thousands in the bank to just throw out every time your special needs child requires new equipment. Or do you have one? Because if you did, you would know the cost of these chairs as Gill Hogan said, can be into the thousands, not to mention all other costs, can be up to double that. I have seen families trying to struggle to get what they need for their children just so that they can have a full life, and not many can afford it by themselves.

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    Mute poo poo
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:52 PM

    You make out that they’re all in suped up ones. A high end normal wheelchair costs a couple of hundred tops.
    Not everyone is poor.

    11
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    Mute Natalie O'Brien Hughes
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:57 PM

    No, not everyone is poor, but to keep a roof over your head, a family fed, car, health insurance (if you have a disabled child it is the only thing that will guarantee their needs met medically) and every other thing families have to pay for, it is a HUGE chunk of the income to look after the needs of a disabled child. Many children require motorised chairs, they cost huge money, if your child needs that, they need specialised transport, full time care (so either a one income home, or pay for care) and other medical needs, such as diapers, waste bags etc. It is not the same as having a fully abled child. It is financially trying for anyone earning anything under a higher middle income.

    28
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    Mute poo poo
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    Feb 19th 2014, 3:27 PM

    I’m not disputing a motorised chair is an extremely expensive piece of kit.

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    Mute Liz Ryan
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    Feb 19th 2014, 4:05 PM

    If parents could afford they would but by your comment you have no idea of the expenses of a chair also if your child is a wheelchair user one of the parents is most likely a career too ie one parent would have to give up their job to look after their child .Please refrain from commenting on issues you clearly know nothing about !!!

    23
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    Mute Lorraine Dempsey
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    Feb 19th 2014, 4:25 PM

    Oh poo poo if only it were that easy. My daughter’s last wheelchair (which is manual) cost over €5000 plus the cost of customised seating and safety straps and we waited 14 months for it from the point of sending in the application for funding. By the time it arrived, she had grown so much that she was hanging off the edge of the seat and her upper body falling side to side because there was no longer adequate support. We are not talking about children who break a leg and use a basic hospital type wheelchair for a few weeks, which is what you are thinking about. She needs pressure relieving customised cushions on the seat and back moulded to the shape of her body to provide support, head rest, harness for chest and legs and it has to be personalised to her complex needs otherwise it is pointless. Try lugging 30kg around the house when a wheelchair breaks. It’s not fun and certainly painful on the back. Many children who require wheelchairs have such complex disabilities that they also require several other pieces of equipment just to make day to day living feasible. Her shower/toilet chair cost €1300, adjustable changing table (because unfortunately my child uses continence wear aka nappies aged 10) was priced at €3000 and we have to fund that ourselves if we want one instead of using mattress on the floor-no dignity & very awkward!
    A basic walker costs a few hundred to a few thousand depending on how much support a child requires. Foot splints €600 etc No lotto win here!

    43
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    Mute Tina O'Kelly
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    Feb 19th 2014, 11:43 PM

    Is this a comment just to be controversial? Where do you stop and start with the equipment? Our daughter has a specially made to measure chair, we had to wait 17 months for it! Her shoes are made to measure too. She sleeps in a hospital style bed. And needs a special activity, pressure relief chair! So I am sorry but we need to eat and run a specially adapted diesel guzzler to take her to all her appointments, which are many so I can’t work! Wouldn’t it be great if life was simpler!

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    Mute Gill Hogan
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:07 PM

    @poo poo
    It’s not like u can just go to Argos and purchase it, each wheelchair user has to get one specially made to suit the individuals requirements, it costs thousands to have a wheelchair adapted and that is only the start with equipment a person may need

    45
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    Mute Dee4
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    Feb 19th 2014, 1:02 PM

    Lets hope Africa starts a foreign aid programme to help the poor kids in Ireland

    42
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    Mute Ciara De Burca Putt
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:44 PM

    Poo poo – you have no idea about the cost of a wheelchair – it’s not like they are available in ikea – specialist wheelchairs are as children grown they are required at least every two to three years – when it breaks that’s it no school – try carrying an 11 year old around

    31
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    Mute Jerry O'Regan
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    Feb 19th 2014, 4:37 PM

    i’m father of a child with a disability and he needs a chair for mobility. He is ten now and he has had 3 chairs. Lucky enough that is one every two years. last chair August 2013 which isn’t two bad to be honest but the system is so ridiculous, I would need to put in the order for a new chair now so he will have it hopefully before 2015. If he has a growth spurt, this could effect his posture and spine. As a parent it is than a matter of fighting the system to get his new chair. phone call after phone call. From the outside looking in it might be easy to say why don’t you buy one but the costs can be two much (manual chair 4k+). if they were readily available of the shelve maybe yes . General it not just a chair, there are other costs, it would be splints / walking Calipers once a year 2.5K. Take it if you had a pair of shoes for two years the same shoes for your son or daughter. Do you think they would be grown out of in six months? So at the moment my Growing son gets a new pair of shoes every two year. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebel-Wheelers-Multi-Sports-Group/231073577053326

    23
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    Mute The Children's OT
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    Feb 19th 2014, 3:46 PM

    @poopoo Children grow! It’s not as if parents can buy “a” one-off wheelchair. Kids’ wheelchairs chairs need to be adjusted approx. every 6 months and replaced every year or so. Very few children with special needs can use a bog standard transit wheelchair. Most need a wheeled base, some form of moulded/customised seat, a headrest and a harness. You’re looking at €+++ for that.
    Also, in my experience, parents of children are subsidising their needs for other equipment already e.g. Hoists, home seating systems, bathing equipment etc.

    19
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    Mute Paul Cotrulia
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    Feb 19th 2014, 1:03 PM

    It’s the HSE that decides where their budget is allocated and distributed not the Government

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    Mute See My Vest
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    Feb 19th 2014, 1:10 PM

    And the government decides how much money the HSE has to allocate.

    42
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    Mute Michael Murphy
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    Feb 19th 2014, 4:13 PM

    It ain’t just children, I was 21 when I first got my wheelchair n coz the correct chair wasn’t given to me then for support, I now have a huge lordosis n my back since.

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    Mute Julian King
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    Feb 19th 2014, 2:55 PM

    Didn’t know Ireland had a junior wheelchair squash team.

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