Mobile logic?

The letter from DMN Mcdermott (19 May) concerning the non-availability of wheelchairs at the Royal Infirmary reminded me of a visit I made there more than ten years ago with an ill, infirm, neighbour in her early 90s.

I parked the car and left her and her daughter in it while I tried to locate a wheelchair. I went to reception and asked where I might borrow one. I was told to look around. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find one. I saw a closed door on my right. I opened the door and saw a neat row of wheelchairs. I asked one of the nurses in the room if I could borrow one and was told I couldn’t as I wouldn’t bring it back. I offered to leave a cash deposit but they wouldn’t let me have one.

After a long search I found a wheelchair but it didn’t have any foot rests. I got my neighbour from the car and into the wheelchair. While I pushed she had to hold her legs up so her feet didn’t scrape the ground. She found this very difficult. I stopped frequently so she could rest but, by the time we reached the waiting room, she was exhausted. After her appointment we had to repeat the process.

I was angry and frustrated at the time because of what she had to endure to attend a medical appointment in a modern hospital but I took it no further. Now, ten years later, it seems little has changed and those in need have the same difficulty we experienced.

The room with the nurses and the unavailable wheelchairs upset me. Why were the wheelchairs there, if not for patients and people attending for appointments, and what were the nurses doing there? When you go shopping you can access a trolley for £1 and you get your money back when you take the trolley back. Why can’t a similar system be set up for wheelchairs? Those who don’t return wheelchairs lose their money; those who do return them, get the free use of a wheelchair and everyone suffers less stress in an already stressful situation.

ALAN TULLETH Featherhall Crescent South,

Edinburgh