Hi.. I,m new on this site , and was hoping to get some help?
My husband has copd and a heart condition. He would like a holiday but we think we should stay in England . I know i can get his oxygen , but has anyone got any ideas . Perhaps you may have holidayed here , any suggestions would be helpful !
Welcome to the site. Can you give a few hints as to what kind of holiday, which coast, how mobile your husband is, etc. It would help others make suggestions.
A coach holiday might suit you. Lochs and Glens, Leger and Shearers all offer holidays within the UK. Lochs and Glens own several hotels in Scotland in fabulous settings. They pick up local as well. You can specify ground floor rooms and some of the hotels have lifts.
My husband is on oxygen 16 hrs a day and no way could he cope with a coach holiday! You actually do need to be reasonably fit as you have to get on and off the coach frequently at all the stops. Coaches don't usually stop close to the loos so sometimes lengthy walks to get there. Then he would hold up all the other passengers trying to get his breath climbing on to the coach, as well as little room for oxygen bottle/portable concentrator sitting down. We recently hired a caravan on a Haven site.Like a luxury flat with everything you need - like home from home only smaller.Also rented a mobility scooter from a local company so we could go out for 'walks' together. Or you could try Warners - their 'disabled' rooms are close to most of the facilities. Good luck - we all need to get out and about whilst we still can.
Good Morning suzeywong
Have a look at tourismforall.org.uk/ - they have some good ideas and offer really useful advice on planning holidays in the UK with medical requirements.
Best wishes,
Ben
BLF Admin
My other half has a very restrictive lung disease, finds difficulty in walking and is on 24 hour oxygen. However, we love holidays also. I try to book accomodation which is in the middle of the action, so to speak, like a city centre or a boardwalk which he will find easier to manage. We take a wheelchair. Wherever we stay, we contact them ahead of time and make our requests, room near an elevator, extra pillows abailability of parking. We havent ruled out flying but it needs special arrangements. You need to contact the airline and generally download a fit to fly form and send it back within a certain time. (The airlines ignorance in general is very trying and I will do a different blog on that.) .Oxygen on board must be purchased or if you have an oxygen concentrator, (like Airsep or Inogen), inform the airline ahead of time and you can use it on board. Always book the special assistanse "lift on lift off " when booking the flight and go straight to special assistance in the airport not to the desk.
Oxygen in europe is generally supplied free of charge with your E1 11, the european health card. Language can be a barrier but you are entitled to it.
In Spain the receptionist in the hotel helped us to secure an e mail for the section in the local hospital and they required an e mail with copies of passport, prescription, and E1 11, address of accommodation and dates of arrival and departure, phew! Ive remembered them all. Oxygen was delivered no charge.
It was the same in Italy except that I rang the embassy inRome who were fantastic. The Italian health system is ASL, (like NHS) and they supplied oxygen.
Fornitura di ossigeno a cittadino EU (Decisione S3 del 12/6/2009) That is the law that gives you the entitlement. So mention it.
I may sound that I found all this very easy to do. However, it all took months of digging for information, hundreds of e mails and coming up against brick walls. Funnily all the private companies will offer it at a price and even try to persuade you that you are not entitled to it.
Good luck with your holiday.
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