'My wheelchair's my lifeline – I'm left stranded at home'

As a major supplier to the NHS collapses, Rebecca Thomas speaks to one man impacted by the provider's financial crisis

- REBECCA THOMAS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

Callum Smith has become a prisoner in his own home, unable to leave or even enjoy the simple pleasures of his garden for the past month.

The 19-year-old, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe muscle-wasting condition, relies on his wheelchair to get around independently and to go to university.

But just weeks before he is due to begin his second year at Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe, he fears he will be forced to miss classes because the collapse of one of the largest suppliers of NHS wheelchairs means he has no idea when his broken chair can be fixed.

Callum is one of the thousands of patients whose freedoms have been put in jeopardy after NRS Healthcare went into liquidation last month, forcing the government to step in and provide £300,000 in emergency funding to allow services to continue.

NHS hospitals and local authorities have been left “scrambling” in the rush to find new suppliers, while hundreds of NRS Healthcare employees are reported to have lost their jobs.

“My wheelchair is my lifeline... and I am now stranded at home with no means to live the rest of my life under my terms. I feel totally discriminated against,” Smith said.

And he is not alone. Latest NHS figures, analysed by The Independent, show more than 10,000 adults are waiting for NHS community wheelchair and equipment services.

The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) told