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Wheelchair users report poor experience of NHS services in Portsmouth and South-east Hampshire

  • Writer: Healthwatch Portsmouth
    Healthwatch Portsmouth
  • Jul 16
  • 1 min read

Updated: Jul 21

Read our Healthwatch report below, which highlights sixteen Healthwatch recommended action points to meet the NHS wheelchair pathway quality Standard.



We will be discussing soon our findings and recommendations with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board and report to our next HWP Advisory Board meeting in public on 17th Sept, 5-7pm at Buckland Community Centre.




From time-to-time, Healthwatch Portsmouth and Healthwatch Hampshire receive unsolicited local feedback from users of wheelchair services.


They told us of their frustration, dissatisfaction and impacts from poor services and delayed deliveries of vital equipment. Concerns centred on the largest supplier of NHS wheelchair services in Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire.


Wheelchairs provide a gateway to independence, wellbeing and quality of life. Confidence in NHS wheelchair services should be a matter of constant concern to commissioners and contracted providers not least because, it is to the wheelchair dependent community.


Working with wheelchair users, our report looks at experiences through the eyes of residents in Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire. Our survey is based on the Wheelchair Alliance Model Questionnaire and the NHS Wheelchair Quality Framework.


·       46 people responded to our 2026 survey which ran from April – May

·       56% have use or have used the same wheelchair provider

·       70% felt the service to be ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’.


Our report highlights sixteen Healthwatch recommended action points to meet the NHS wheelchair pathway quality Standard.


Read the full report here:



If you have any questions related to health and care in Portsmouth, please feel free to email us at info@healthwatchportsmouth.co.uk

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