A joint response from NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and Ross Care to the findings of the Calderdale and Kirklees service involvement
NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WY ICB) plans and commissions NHS services for the population of Calderdale and Kirklees. The wheelchair service, also known as the Posture and Mobility Service, is commissioned across both areas, with Kirklees acting as the lead commissioner.
Ross Care has delivered the service since October 2019. This includes clinical assessments, provision of wheelchairs, as well as repair and maintenance. The current contract runs until October 2028.
When Ross Care was awarded the contract, the service had over 1,000 people waiting for an assessment or delivery of a wheelchair. Waiting times exceeded 190 weeks. Within the first 12 months, with additional investment from the ICB, the number of people waiting was reduced to 250 and waiting times to under 50 weeks.
Since then, as with other NHS Services, there have been significant external financial pressures which have impacted on service provision, such as increased demand, increased equipment and operational costs. Despite this, Ross Care has continued to sustain service delivery and maximise recycling rates to offset cost pressures.
However, the impact of this resulted in substantially increased waiting times and a higher number of concerns and complaint calls to Ross Care. As part of WY ICB’s ongoing assessment of the contract, it was agreed to better understand what was working well and where improvements need to be made.
Working with Ross Care, the WY ICB led a programme of involvement to engage with people who use the service, including their carers and family members, and referrers into the service.
WY ICB worked with Disability Partnership Calderdale, Parents of Children with Additional Needs (PCAN), Healthwatch Kirklees, Healthwatch Calderdale and Ross Care to design a survey and listening events where people could give their views.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who shared their time and experience through the survey and listening events.
We recognise that telling us what works well - and what has not worked - takes time and effort. Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us understand people’s lived experiences, check how the service is performing, and identify improvements which will make the greatest difference.
We have carefully reviewed the feedback and are grateful for the openness and detail shared. While the responses represent a relatively small proportion of the overall number of people who are registered with the service, the themes raised have provided important insight into where people are experiencing delays, frustration or avoidable difficulty. We will continue to listen to and involve a wider range of voices so that people who use the service remain at the heart of ongoing service development.
Next steps
We are committed to listening, learning and acting on what we have heard. The following steps set out how we will respond to your feedback:
Quality Improvement Plan: We have agreed a set of targeted actions and timescales during 2026–27 to address the issues raised through the involvement and to improve the service.
Strengthening service user engagement: Ross Care is in the process of appointing a dedicated Community Health Engagement Officer who is expected to be in post by June 2026 and who will help to ensure that service users’ voices are heard, responded to and embedded in service improvement and development.
Targeted investment: WY ICB has agreed additional recurrent investment from April 2026 to help deliver the actions in Quality Improvement Plan, including working towards achieving the national NHS waiting time requirements. Recurrent investment means additional funding which will continue on an annual basis.
We know improvements need to be felt in day-to-day experience. WY ICB is responsible for monitoring progress of the Quality Improvement Plan. Ross Care will share progress on the impact of these actions over the coming months.
If you use the wheelchair service and would like to discuss your experience or raise a concern, please contact Ross Care: complaints@rosscare.co.uk. All enquiries will be handled confidentially and responded to promptly. Further information and ways to provide feedback can also be found at www.