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Lack of wheelchairs

Posted By B Murray

"Lack of wheelchairs"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France

(as a relative),

I took my mum to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to have her foot checked after recent surgery. She has very limited mobility and has been advised not to put any weight on it.

On arrival, we were unable to get a wheelchair. When we asked, we were told there were none available. Eventually, a kind porter managed to find one for us, but by that time we had already waited a considerable amount, and I had walked around the hospital myself and found a wheelchair for her. During this period, my mum was left standing at the entrance for around 15 minutes on her injured foot.

I find it unacceptable that there are not enough wheelchairs available for patients with mobility issues. This is an essential piece of equipment and should be more readily accessible to prevent unnecessary discomfort and risk.

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Responses

Response from Louise Davies, Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 4 days ago
We are preparing to make a change
Louise Davies
Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 24/09/2025 at 13:17
Published on Care Opinion at 13:31

picture of Louise Davies

Dear B Murray

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us following your visit to the Royal Infirmary with your mum. I'm sorry to hear there were no wheelchairs available, which made it difficult for her to attend her appointment. I passed your feedback on to our Estates & Facilities team, who have provided the following response:

"We are very sorry to learn of your experience and regret any additional distress this caused you. Our intention is to ensure that wheelchairs are always available for patients when required. Unfortunately, due to the continued increase in demand at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the varying nature of activities carried out on site, the availability of wheelchairs cannot always be guaranteed at the point of need.

The onsite management team have asked Porters to carry out more frequent checks of wheelchair availability across the site, to help ensure patients can access one where possible. In addition, we are reviewing our signage to make sure patients are directed to the most appropriate locations for wheelchair provision.

We would like to reassure you that NHS Lothian is currently carrying out an evaluation of the number of wheelchairs available across the site. Where shortfalls are identified between availability and demand, steps will be taken to increase provision wherever possible.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and once again we apologise for the inconvenience this caused and for the negative experience you encountered."

Kind regards

Louise

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