Mobility challenges and opportunities report

Healthwatch Bury undertook a piece of qualitative research to explore the issues and concerns affecting people living in Bury with mobility impairment. Healthwatch completed one to one interviews, met with two local groups and promoted a survey across social media channels.

Healthwatch Bury asked people to tell them about: The assistance they have to enable and support their lives (such as family help, Personal Assistants, friends, living in a residential setting or the care agency). Their experiences of finding and accessing community groups in Bury. Their experience of finding and accessing paid support and additional funds. Their experiences of health and social care. Changes they would like to make to health or social care services. Concerns around wheelchair services. Their experience concerning access issues.

The key messages were: Most rely on support from family and friends with many acting as carers. Personal assistants are key to help people remain independent but keeping and finding the right PA is not always easy. Access to suitable transport is important to help them maintain their independence but access issues and costs are blockages. Concerns about Ring and Ride and taxi access. Access to local groups and social interaction is important but many don’t know where to go although those that do find them invaluable. Accessing funds and benefits is a constant round of assessments and reviews. Finding information and the ability to challenge funding decisions related to care, is difficult. Access to adaptations to help people remain independent takes too long. About half of the respondents did not feel involved as much as they wanted to be in discussions about their healthcare. There is a need for greater empathy concerning disabilities, through improved disability awareness training across health and social care. Services should be co produced and developed alongside mobility impaired service users. Around a third of wheelchair respondents had no concerns about the repair service but half had found the service difficult to access and waiting times are too long. The need for improved mobility friendly public transport and access to facilities is required.

Healthwatch Bury have suggested a number of recommendations which have been agreed following discussion with an advisory group made up of mobility impaired service users.