Health or social care professionals who have completed our one-day accreditation course, or GPs.

GPs are also welcome to attend the course, although it is not a requirement. Please contact us to book a place.

All accredited prescribers can use our e-referral system above. To find out more about becoming an accredited prescriber please see our service criteria document, or contact our admin team to book onto the next course on 0117 4144900.

Please ensure that you read our service criteria guide and can confirm that the client meets the criteria before referring to the service. If you want to submit a paper referral please use the forms below, printing information clearly. Illegible forms will be returned to the referrer. 

To refer a new client to our service:

To re-refer an existing client to our service: 

To refer a client for a cushion assessment:

To refer a client for a Electric/Power Chair:

• Long-term need for a wheelchair, i.e. 6 months or more AND
• Anticipated regular wheelchair use, defined as at least 4 days a week or more.
• Attendant propelled or self-propelled manual wheelchairs are available, as well as powered wheelchairs in certain circumstances.
• Please see the full criteria for further information. 

• Outdoor-only powered wheelchairs or mobility scooters are NOT provided.
• Powered wheelchairs are available for indoor use (i.e. in home setting, at school or day centre use if travelling via transport)
• Indoor powered wheelchair may be used part-time to support mobility, or full-time.
• Clients MUST still meet general wheelchair service criteria above for long-term need and regular use.
• The client’s environment must be suitable for powered wheelchair use before one can be provided.
• Powered wheelchairs are generally not provided for hospital discharge.
• For clients who use an indoor powered wheelchair for all their mobility, there is a separate referral process for indoor/outdoor powered wheelchairs.
• As a referrer, please establish anticipated powered mobility use clearly before making a referral.  This prevents disappointment for clients who do not need an indoor powered wheelchair and keeps the overall waiting list down.
• Please see the full criteria for further information.

Equipment is provided based on an individual’s needs. Referrers are encouraged to consider access needs in anticipation of wheelchair referral and are to liaise with the wheelchair service. Environmental needs are considered as far as possible but an entirely different wheelchair will not be provided for environmental needs alone.  

Seat cushions only are provided for private wheelchairs where there is no safety risk and client otherwise meets provision criteria. No other equipment is provided for private wheelchairs.

These are provided only in specific circumstances. Trays are not designed to replace a suitable table in the environment and headrests cannot substitute for a suitable vehicle transport system. Please see the full service criteria for further information and guidance.

• Outdoor only powered wheelchairs or mobility scooters.
• Armchairs or other static seating.  Wheelchairs are provided for mobility purposes and not as a replacement for suitable static seating.
• Attendant-operated power packs for manual wheelchairs.
• Shower or commode chairs.
• ‘E-fix’ or other systems to convert a manual wheelchair into a powered wheelchair.
• Transit wheelchairs for nursing or residential home use, except in very specific cases. Please see criteria for further details. 

We provide a range of equipment based on a client’s mobility needs. The equipment has to be durable and rated for the client’s weight.  We are unable to provide lighter wheelchairs solely for carer needs.

The personal Wheelchair Budget scheme is available to offer additional client choice. 

A Personal Wheelchair Budget (PWB) is a scheme offered to provide a wider choice for wheelchair users. At your assessment you will work with a clinician to identify what you want to achieve with your wheelchair. If the clinician identifies that a new wheelchair is required you will be prescribed an NHS Wheelchair and will be told the cost of this provision, this is your Personal Wheelchair Budget. As part of the scheme you also have the option to put your budget towards the purchase of equipment outside of the NHS range, or purchase additional accessories the service is not funded to provide.

If you take the option of purchasing from another supplier it requires the user to opt out of the wheelchair service pathway for 3 years (children) or 5 years (adults) and therefore is not advised for clients with rapidly changing conditions. Equipment still has to be approved by the wheelchair service as generally suitable before purchase.  

The wheelchair service aims to work to an 18 week pathway from referral to provision of equipment. Some stock equipment may be provided much more quickly and there is a longer wait on some specialist assessments and equipment. Referrers are asked to make referrals as timely as possible and recognise the wheelchair service is not set up as a rapid response or acute service.

Referrers are encouraged to contact the service with any general queries on wheelchairs@nbt.nhs.uk or call 0117 4144900

From your referral being received to provision of equipment we aim for less than 18 weeks.

If the equipment required is in stock we may be able to provide it quicker.

There is a longer wait on some specialist assessments and equipment, in particular when supplying equipment from multiple suppliers.

You can contact us directly or be referred by a health professional.

When you contact us please provide details of how your condition has changed and what aspects of your wheelchair no longer meet your needs. Following this we will review your case and agree an appropriate plan with you. 

A Personal Wheelchair Budget [PWB] is a scheme offered to provide a wider choice for wheelchair users. At your assessment you will work with a clinician to identify what you want to achieve with your wheelchair. If the clinician identifies that a new wheelchair is required you will be prescribed an NHS wheelchair and be told the cost of this provision. This is your Personal Wheelchair Budget .You have the following choices on how to use your PWB:
NHS Provision (Notional)
Accept the wheelchair prescribed to meet your needs. The wheelchair will remain the property of the NHS.
Top-Up Alternative Wheelchair
You can upgrade to an alternative model of wheelchair within the NHS range. The wheelchair will remain the property of the NHS.

Top-Up Accessories
You can add additional features to the wheelchair provided with guidance of the clinician. The wheelchair  and any additional features will remain the property of the NHS.

Third Party PWB
You  can choose a model of wheelchair outside of  the NHS range, provided it meets your needs, from an independent mobility provider.

Trays are only provided in specific circumstances to improve someone’s sitting position or to enable independence with tasks at home. Trays are not designed to replace a suitable table.
 

Headrests are only provided for specific clinical reasons. Headrests are not provided solely for vehicle transportation, this is yours or the transport agencies responsibility. 

Seat cushions can be provided for private wheelchairs following an assessment by us if you otherwise meet the provision criteria. A cushion cannot be provided if it would create a safety risk.

You may wish to hire or purchase equipment from The Red Cross or local mobility dealerships in your area.

All referrers will receive a confirmation email,  generated automatically when an eReferral is completed.  If a confirmation email is not received, the eReferral has not been fully completed and received by the Wheelchair Service eReferral system.

Our analysts carry out a wide range of tests, including:

• Product sterility testing – we have a purpose-built clean room on-site
• Microbial detection, enumeration and identification
• Determination of endotoxin levels
• Raw material analysis and identification testing
• High performance liquid chromatography
• Atomic absorption/emission spectroscopy
• Infra-red spectroscopy
• Disintegration and dissolution testing
• Refractive index, optical rotation, viscosity and density measurements
• Sub-visible particle counting
• Water content by Karl Fischer

Water used for medical purposes must be evaluated for its quality before use. We provide a full spectrum water analysis service: identifying contaminants, root causes and mitigation strategies based on current best practice and a wealth of experience.

We can perform full chemical and microbial analysis to comply with a variety of specifications, including The British Pharmacopoeia and Choice Framework for local Policy and Procedures (for endoscopy, clean steam and feed waters).

Routine tests include: endotoxin testing, TVC and trace analysis of contaminants (e.g. lead, calcium, magnesium, silicates and phosphates). 

Pharmaceutical products can be contaminated during production by the presence of residual APIs, medicines or other materials present in production areas. It is a requirement of GMP that validated cleaning procedures to prevent this contamination are in place.

We provide a comprehensive Cleaning Validation service at RQCL. We will send you a bespoke kit for the sampling of your facility to enable validation of your processes. Using HPLC, we will carry out trace analysis on your samples for residual contaminants. Additionally, a full report detailing the results of the analysis and the method and equipment used will be produced. 

We provide a full environmental monitoring service, from on-site sampling through to plate reading and microbial identification. We can measure for contamination of air, water and working environments within healthcare and other establishments. This allows us to provide complete qualification of pharmaceutical clean rooms.

Our aim is to provide benchmarking, early warning and remedial action data appropriate to your environment. We have access to the very latest diagnostic platforms, including MALDI TOF Mass Spectroscopy used for the rapid species identification of micro-organisms.

We offer a comprehensive temperature mapping service for validation of storage areas. Using lightweight, unobtrusive, portable data-loggers, we provide tailored methods to meet your requirements.

We will provide you with an appropriate number of data loggers which will be placed in designated positions inside the storage unit. After a set monitoring time, they will be collected and returned to RQCL, where data analysis is carried out. Our results are presented in a clear and concise manner, allowing you to determine easily whether there are any variations in temperature across your storage unit.

We map a wide range of environments, including incubators, fridges, freezers, stability cabinets and warehouses.

Assigning suitable expiry dates to medicines is of vital importance. We are able to test a wide variety of dosage forms to ICH and NHS QA guidelines, ensuring that medicines remain safe to use throughout their shelf life.

We assist in drug formulation design and assessment of formulation/packaging changes, to help improve patient safety and drug stability. A common requirement is assessment of tablets after repackaging in compliance aids. Through a combination of assay, degradation analysis and dissolution testing, we can provide detailed stability data.

A typical stability report will contain a scientific discussion of results, with statistical analysis where appropriate. Considerations which may affect product stability and formulation/storage suggestions will also be noted.

We offer a comprehensive range of medical gas testing services to hospitals, dentists and industry. We have two fully trained and registered QC(MGPS) professionals who can ensure that your system meets the criteria set out in the HTM2022/HTM02 and The British Pharmacopeia. Whether you want routine regular checks or testing following recent works, with our help you can ensure the safe and continual supply of gases to patients.

This service is primarily carried out by our experienced Quality Assurance Pharmacist. It is designed to consider the compliance of aseptic units with accepted quality assurance standards, including Quality Assurance systems, record keeping, premises and facilities. Following the audit, you will receive a detailed report of the findings. This service is available to those departments that engage in the preparation of pharmaceutical compounds, and is particularly useful to those who are not registered with the MHRA.