The recently launched All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Access to Disability Equipment has announced its first inquiry to explore the barriers preventing disabled people from accessing the medical equipment they need.
The inquiry aims to support policy discussions and recommendations that improve access to essential community equipment, reduce inequalities, and promote best practice and innovation in commissioning, funding, and service delivery.
It will focus on four key areas:
- Meeting needs and patient experience: Exploring how effectively current community equipment services support the practical and everyday needs of disabled children and adults, including the impact on families and carers.
- Equity and access: Investigating regional and systemic variations in access to equipment and examining issues of fairness, consistency, and the influence of postcode based differences.
- Systemic barriers and delays: Identifying key challenges such as staffing, training, and process inefficiencies and how these hinder timely access to appropriate equipment.
- Commissioning, integration, and innovation: Evaluating current funding levels and commissioning models, the integration of equipment services with health, social care, and education, and opportunities for improvement.
As part of the inquiry, the APPG has launched a call for evidence open until 22 August. It is inviting professionals, including medical equipment suppliers and healthcare workers as well as disabled people, their families, and carers to participate. The short survey can be accessed online here.
Daniel Francis MP, Chair of the APPG for Access to Disability Equipment, said: “For someone with a disability, access to medical equipment is a lifeline. It enables independent living and brings dignity, opportunity, and freedom. So it is deeply upsetting that so many people in the UK can’t get the equipment they need.
“Everyone should have access to the right equipment at the right time.
“But for this to happen, we must truly understand the root causes of these prevailing barriers to access impacting so many families. This means hearing directly from those impacted, including the carers, professionals, and equipment suppliers all working to make the provision of essential medical equipment more efficient, effective, faster and fairer for all those who depend on it.”
The full set of inquiry questions are seeking answers to the following seven broad themes:
- How well does current community equipment provision meet the needs of patients and families?
- How equitable and consistent is access to community equipment across regions and systems?
- What barriers and challenges limit timely and appropriate access to equipment?
- What are the consequences of delays or gaps in provision, particularly for children and young people?
- How effective and sustainable are current funding, commissioning, and procurement models?
- How well is equipment provision integrated with wider health, social care, and education services?
- What opportunities exist to improve services through better collaboration, design, and user involvement?
A recent report revealed that over one billion people worldwide still lack access to the assistive products they critically need.
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