Wheelshare
Two NHS hospitals will be the first in the UK to introduce an innovative 24/7 and free-of-charge wheelchair ‘docking station’ thanks to a partnership with an Israeli company, Wheelshare.
The wheelchair-sharing stations are to be installed at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, and North Tyneside General Hospital.
The Israeli company’s 24/7 and free-of-charge wheelchair docking stations aim to end the problem of patients or visitors needing wheelchairs and not being able to find one at the right time.
Wheelshare’s Nir Tobis said: “Our innovative docking stations offer a user-friendly solution to all of this and we pride ourselves on providing a service that really makes a difference to patients, visitors and staff, ensuring that they can easily access a chair so that their visit to the hospital is as smooth as possible”.
The docking system will also have a round-the-clock maintenance helpline to ensure the chairs are fit for purpose. The system will be trialled for 12 months in the first instance. Globally, Wheelshare says it has recorded around 1 million rental hours by around 150,000 unique users.
