Wheelchair Provision: Independent Review Body

Dave Robertson Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2026 Westminster Hall

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

What a pleasure it is to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Murrison. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for scheduling this debate and my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) for all the work he has done not only to secure this debate, but to champion wheelchair users in his constituency and all of ours. We are lucky to have him on the green Benches.

As we talk about the provision of wheelchairs across the country, I want to share the story of one of my constituents. Dozens of constituents have written to me, but I want to draw this story out because it is a particularly jarring case of how the system is failing people. My constituent Lisa has a severe condition that affects her nerves. She cannot stand, feed herself or use the bathroom unaided, and she has a tracheotomy to help her breathe. In July 2024 she was referred to AJM, the company contracted to the NHS in Staffordshire at that point to provide wheelchairs. It took almost a year, and Lisa’s family contacting me for help, to even get her measured for an appointment by AJM. She was then told that it would be at least another year before she got the wheelchair that she needs. Without that, she can leave her house only for hospital appointments, because the chair that she had was impacting her breathing and putting her life at risk.

AJM did finally provide a better wheelchair in January 2025. It took 18 months—not 18 weeks, but 18 months—and Lisa still did not get the wheelchair she needed. She got a better wheelchair—a less bad wheelchair—but it still did not meet her needs. We are unsure of the timeline for when she will get the wheelchair that she needs to be able to live her life.

Lisa’s is not an isolated case. It does not surprise me that my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume), who we have just heard from, has also had problems with AJM. We know that it is a national issue and that AJM is failing the people of Staffordshire. Indeed, I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) will raise a similar point shortly.

Since 2023, complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman about that firm have shot up. To refer to the point made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), it is very clear from looking at that data that there are systemic, nationwide failings. The ombudsman asked AJM to investigate but, from what we are hearing today and have heard previously in this place, sufficient action has not been taken across the country.

In Staffordshire, the local NHS commissioners issued AJM with a performance notice last August and have now retendered the contract, but until October the contract remains with AJM and, unless massive changes are made, it will continue to fail my constituents and those around the country. AJM has clearly lost the trust of people in our area. The long waits have had a really serious impact not just on the physical health of wheelchair users, but on their mental health and dignity, and on their friends, their families and the community that support them. We can never look at one person in isolation—it takes a family to raise a child and it takes a community for us all to be part of, and these effects have really serious impacts on entire communities as well as on wheelchair users themselves.

This is really not good enough. Staffordshire ICB has finally stood up and made the decision to retender the contract and award it elsewhere. However, my major concern is that this contract was not working, it was clear that it was not working and none of the interventions made it work. That is a real problem. It appears that, if everything works fine, everything works fine—but if things start to go wrong, what is the mechanism to fix them? How do we make sure that things are fixed?

The suggestion that there should be a national body to oversee wheelchair provision is one that would give my constituents and indeed all our constituents confidence that somebody will examine this issue, and that failings will not continue to be brushed under the carpet and ignored. They simply cannot be ignored. Wheelchairs are far too important to far too many people, and I place on the record my absolute support for the proposal.