The thing is, there is only value in the wheelchair to me, there is no, or very little value in it to a potential thief, and I would hope they realise that the person who needs and uses this wheelchair is in enough trouble already without coping with another bothersome event on top. I am appealing to their better nature, and trusting that other people walking in and out of the shop can see and would question someone taking it away.
Lol - no wonder you leave it unattended. Demonstrates the quality of the equipment that the NHS supplies. No one wants it. And I thought the HSE were bad..
And we wonder why staff in the NHS have low morale. The free equipement supplied by the NHS has to meet safety standards so that the user is not at risk of further injury. A relative paid goid money for a wheelchair and it was nowhere near as goid as my brithers NHS one. I believe they don't get stolen because people who are in need of them can get them free from the NHS so why steal a second hand one.
I know of people in the UK who have their dearly departed relatives wheelchair and have struggled to give them away, and having wirked in recycling I've seen perfectly sound ones left at the local centre because noone it seems wants a second hand chair.
Sadly there are opportunists who might take a wheelchair for a joy ride but clearly not many.
We used to get our relative to use the chair as a walking aid, but the meant someone had to be with them to get it up steps etc.
I think it really depends on where you live. I live in a rural area and everyone knows everyone else. We used to have one of those adult sized buggies when my son was a teen and we always left it outside shops if we had to and had no problems. Most mothers did. With the wheelchair which is private (didn't qualify for an NHS one) so very expensive but most often we just leave it if we have to, although we try to only use shops that are wheelchair friendly. Hard to do when you live in a conservation zone where they aren't allowed to change the shop fronts.
For times where we are somewhere that isn't so safe we use a bike chain. It has to be big enough to go through the spokes of each wheel as the wheels are quick release.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.