The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign found that one in three UK children with muscular dystrophy who need a wheelchair receive no NHS funding to buy one, and disabled children wait an average of five months for a wheelchair on the NHS.
When the charity asked primary care trusts and health boards to estimate the cost of a powered wheelchair most put this at around £2,000. But the charity claims this would pay for only a basic chair that would not meet the needs of most disabled children, with the true cost standing at £17,500.
Philip Butcher, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said: "Today's figures are nothing short of a national scandal. It is a damning indictment of the NHS that so many families are forced to rely on charities or be driven into financial hardship just to receive vital, life-improving equipment for their disabled children."
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