To get an appointment with a NHS (National Health Service) (www.nhs.uk) consultant you will need to contact your GP, who will refer you on.

Different walking aids, surgical footwear, breast prostheses and wigs can be supplied free of charge following a referral from a hospital consultant.

Continence products are also available through the NHS.

An assessment of your needs can be made by a district nurse, health visitor or specialist continence advisor and, provided you meet the eligibility criteria, the appropriate product will be supplied, usually via the community nursing service free of charge.

Unfortunately in some areas the criteria threshold for assessing need is set reasonably high and is dependent on local policy and health authority budgets.

Hearing aids are also available from the NHS free of charge, on prescription, through a referral to an Ear, Nose and Throat consultant or from your GP who can refer you to the local Audiology department.

Low vision aids, including hand magnifiers, can be prescribed under the NHS through your local Hospital Eye Service.

Your Regional Health Authority takes responsibility for the provision of artificial limbs and, again, a referral to a consultant will enable you to access this service. Ongoing treatment for artificial limbs is offered as well.

Occupational Therapists play an important role in the provisioning of home equipment. If you require homecare equipment an occupational therapist will give you an assessment on leaving hospital. The hospital will provide you with the relevant equipment depending on the occupational therapist's assessment.

Communication Aids Centres can give advice on the most appropriate equipment to meet your needs. Your GP can refer you to your nearest centre.

For more sophisticated equipment, such as environmental control systems, you would have to be assessed by a NHS medical consultant from the Department of Health (www.dh.gov.uk).

Environmental controls that enable severely disabled people to operate home electrical appliances and equipment independently can be provided on loan and serviced free of charge by the NHS after an assessment from an Occupational Therapist.

The NHS (www.nhs.uk) are resposible for the supply of manual and powered wheelchairs. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that the budget for NHS to issue indoor/outdoor powered wheelchairs is much smaller than that for manual wheelchairs and therefore the eligibility criterion for powered wheelchairs is narrower.

If you are deemed as having a permanent need for a wheelchair, your GP will refer you for an assessment. You may only be eligible for a powered chair if you are actually unable to propel or manoeuvre yourself in a manual chair.

Most NHS Trusts have now introduced a voucher scheme which gives you a voucher up to the value of an NHS issue wheelchair and if you wish you can then add your own money to the cost of purchasing a wheelchair of your choice.

This scheme does not provide for powered chairs, but if you are in receipt of the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance, you could purchase a powered wheelchair on the Motability (www.motability.co.uk) Scheme.

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