PEOPLE needing wheelchairs are having to wait up to seven months, according to the East Lancashire Health Authority.

A report to the authority, which is due to meet tomorrow, says nationally there has been an eight to tem per cent growth in the demand for wheelchairs on permanent loan.

It says the rise is due to the increase in the elderly populaton, Care in the Community, greater public awareness and expectations and advances in medical procedures which save lives at the expense of limbs and mobility.

Demand for wheelchairs on short loans is also increasing, mainly as a result of shortening hospital stays and earlier discharges.

At present patients listed for assessment at local clinics are waiting 18-20 weeks, followed by a further ten-week wait for the wheelchair.

The authority will be told tomorrow that steps are being taken to reduce that to two to four weeks by 1999/2000.

Efforts to reduce the current waiting list of 790 patients will also be made over the next three years.

Members will be asked to agree a new system of prioritising applications for wheelchairs, from full-time users with no walking ability to short term temporary users who need a chair following an accident or illness.

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