ukactive chair Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson led a campaign launch in London's Parliament Square this morning (20 July), calling for an improvement to wheelchair services in England to ensure users can lead a normal life and stay physically active.

Grey-Thompson brought together campaigners, MPs and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for the event organised by the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, of which she is also chair.

The ‘Right chair, right time, right now’ campaign calls for an improvement to wheelchair services in England before more users are adversely affected by the current poor levels of service present across the country. Today’s event highlighted the issues facing wheelchair users in getting the right chair at the right time and launched the 10-point wheelchair charter and national improvement campaign.

The campaign group says that many users often face severe delays in receiving their wheelchair, leading to harm and waste. Additionally, they say there are no set standards for budget per user and there is no current clear idea of what is spent on wheelchair services in NHS England, leading to widespread confusion and varied levels of service for users across the country.

“For too long wheelchair services have been inadequate and it is time that wheelchair users are listened to and provided a proper service, rather than being marginalised,” said Grey-Thompson, who is one of Britain's greatest Paralympians.

“Having the right chair every day is what allows me to get out of the house and keep active, so to think that problems with wheelchair services are affecting the lives of many who want to keep fit and active, is unacceptable.”

Anyone wishing to support the campaign can do so by clicking here.