NHS Wheelchair Services across the UK: Country-specific information

Discover specific information about NHS Wheelchair Services for each country in the UK. 

We’ve already looked in detail at getting a wheelchair with the NHS Wheelchair Service. We’ve also looked at Insurance + Aftercare.

Information for England 

In England, the local health authority is known as an Integrated Care Board (ICB). It has responsibility for NHS wheelchair services in that area. Find your local health authority or ICB. 

Information for Wales 

NHS Wheelchair services in Wales has a main hub in Cardiff. Three centres in Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham work together to form an all-Wales service. 

Information for Northern Ireland 

NHS Wheelchair Services in Northern Ireland has a main hub in Belfast – the Regional Wheelchair Service. After getting in touch here, people are then referred to a local centre. For more information, see NIDirect: Wheelchair Service 

Information for Scotland 

Wheelchair services across Scotland are based at five main centres. 

  • WestMARC (The West of Scotland Mobility and Rehabilitation Centre) is based in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. It serves patients from six health boards. These are: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Dumfries & Galloway and part of NHS Forth Valley and NHS Highland. 
  • The SMART Centre (South east Mobility and Rehabilitation Technology Centre). This is based in the Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh. It serves patients from NHS Lothian, NHS Fife and NHS Borders. 
  • In Tayside, there is the TORT Centre (Tayside Orthopaedic & Rehabilitation Technology Centre). It serves patients in NHS Tayside as well as part of NHS Forth Valley 
  • MARS (Mobility and Rehabilitation Service) is based in Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen. It serves patients from NHS Grampian, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland. 

Do the premises of NHS Wheelchair Services provide any other services? 

 

Occasionally, your local NHS Wheelchair Service might be part of something bigger. This could be a hospital, or a broader centre for disabled people. That centre might provide some mobility aids and prosthetics, or it might provide assistive technology. 

See, for example, Ace centre: Find a local NHS Assistive Tech Service + Ace centre: UK map. You can also contact your local health authority. 

Find out more

Read our guide to getting a wheelchair in the UK. Find out about wheelchair aftercare.   

The Wheelchair Alliance has another guide (PDF) that explains what to expect from NHS Wheelchair Services. The guide is a simple version of the NHS document, the Wheelchair Quality Framework). 

Get in touch 

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