Key facts
- Complaints to the ombudsman about NHS wheelchair provision in England rose from eight in 2020-21 to 110 in 2025-26.
- The ombudsman said four out of five complaints relate to the private firms supplying wheelchairs to at least half of those who need one.
- Graham Woolner received a fully working wheelchair in October 2025, 26 months past the 18-week deadline.
- The ombudsman identified a regulatory gap because the Care Quality Commission's remit does not cover wheelchair services.
- An NHS spokesperson said its quality framework expects 92% of people to receive equipment within 18 weeks.
Disabled people in England are waiting up to two years to receive a wheelchair, according to a report published on November 11, 2026 by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman for England, Paula Sussex. Sussex said the hold-ups were having profound consequences and limiting wheelchair users' ability to lead independent lives.
The investigation followed a rise in complaints from eight in 2020-21 to 110 in 2025-26. Four out of five complaints relate to the handful of private firms that provide wheelchairs to at least half of all children and adults who need one. Most complaints concerned waits longer than the supposed 18-week maximum to receive either the device or parts for it.
"For people who rely on a wheelchair, delays, unsuitable equipment or poor repairs can affect every part of their life," Sussex said. "There can be profound consequences, from physical pain and emotional distress to limiting their ability to lead full lives."
Elliot Cruz Gardiyanoglu, now six, was three when he waited seven months for his wheelchair, which his mother, Jania Cruz, said meant he could not start nursery at the same time as his twin brother or access specialist therapy. "We were never told there would be such a long wait for the wheelchair," Cruz said.
Rachel Perrin, director of the charity Newlife, said Elliot's experience showed how "the wrong wheelchair – or no wheelchair at all – can be dangerous, as well as keeping children and their families trapped at home".
Graham Woolner, 68, of Bishop's Stortford, who has spinal muscular atrophy, said he was meant to get a new wheelchair by August 2023 but it did not arrive until September 2024, and he did not get one in full working order until October 2025, 26 months past the 18-week deadline. "After a year of waiting, the wheelchair they gave me broke on the first day," Woolner said.
Sussex identified a "regulatory gap" in wheelchair services such as assessment, fitting and repair. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency oversees the equipment, but the Care Quality Commission's remit does not cover the services wheelchair users receive because they are not supervised by a health professional. Integrated care boards, the NHS regional bodies that commission wheelchair services, were found to have "unreliable information" about local need and to face an "uncompetitive wheelchair market" dominated by a handful of private providers, and to be poor at sharing information about problems with private firms.
An NHS spokesperson said long waits were unacceptable and that the wheelchair quality framework sets an expectation that 92% of people receive equipment within 18 weeks, requiring commissioners to hold regular performance meetings with providers.