Equipment Matters Short Film

Community equipment is built into every part of my day, quietly turning what would once have been exhausting or even impossible tasks into things I can now do with confidence and dignity. The first thing I reach for each morning is to pull up bed frame. It's a sturdy bar fixed beside the mattress that lets me leaving myself upright without twisting my back or putting all my weight through my legs. Disabled people aren't a monolith or a homogeneous group of people, like we're different, we're different shapes and sizes

We like different things, we have different needs. And what might be right for you might not be right for me. And sometimes the clinical arguments used, and I'm like, Yeah, I understand there's a clinical element to some of this stuff, but there's a human element as well

So the human and clinical together can really make a difference. And I don't think one is more or less important, but always the clinical and the cost argument, um, I think win. In the last year, I've been looking after my male friend who's 6'3

He's got motor neuron disease. And none of the equipment that's been supplied by the NHS fits him. It started off, um, when his mobility got worse, and he was on crutches which did fit him

So, you know, that was the one thing that fitted. Um, as soon as he needed to move on to a walking trolley with uh, with wheels, the handles were about 3 inches too low. Nothing about us without us

Equipment matters because people matter and just think of yourselves. As the next or the waiting generation of equipment users, um, and I say users or people who will use equipment to live coordinary ordinary lives are gonna be UCAF, are gonna be the people watching this film. So don't think about it as someone else's problem

When we talk about equipment, equipment for means to me, and added to independent Liddy. Mm, and that's what equipment uh should do to enable me to live a life, and I include in that assisted technology, assisted technology, um, And and And equipment are just. And nice to have, if that makes uh uh sense, um, they are fundamental enablers and for

Uh, dignity, choice, control in my life and the lives of so many of us, when we talk about equipment. And for me, equipment is, isn't about convenience, it's about independence and participation. You can see some of the stuff that happened in other places in the world where you think

Wow, like that's so different from what we have here. Um, I think there's more opportunity to start to have those conversations, um, because I think now. We have lots of disabled people living longer, lots of people getting older, lots of people that might need equipment, and I think people

Are starting to think about it as much as or should be thinking about it as much as personalization or tech. I have something called a sliding sheet, so that just helps you to literally slide when you're transferring and I use it on a on a. Well, I've got, um, it's a banana board or whatever you might want to call it, um, onto the bed

And I just thought it was time to replace it. So that process, again, is a, is a bit stupid. So I, that one is through the district nurse

And I have a district nurse out every 6 weeks to help me with changing catheters. So I asked her two catheter changes ago to order the sliding sheet, and I didn't get it, so that would have been like 14 weeks ago. And I, I didn't follow it up

It wasn't urgent. It was to make sure I had an extra one to replace one that was going home. And then I suddenly dawned on me that nothing had happened

So I rang up the, um, disunity district nurse office, got through first time, which is, um, you know, and they answered quickly. I spoke to somebody who'd said, Even the admin, he said he'd get one of the district nurses uh to sort it out for me as I thought, oh, OK, so she then phoned me back within half an hour, which. Um, which, which was pretty good

And she then wanted to check with me, and I had one on the radiator so I could reach it, cause obviously, I can't necessarily reach anything it had a code on it, on the back, which didn't tally cause it's probably too old with what was on her, uh, old thing. And then she asked for the size, which was fine, it was there. And she obviously ordered it, and then 2 days later, it was delivered

And it was, I was really, that to me was really good, and I was quite surprised. So obviously, the district nurse was just busy and had forgotten to do it. Um, it, it, it might not have been

She might have done it, and then it got lost within the, the contractor. So that one worked well. Well I was talking to a friend who said, well, what happens in the Netherlands, cause everybody's over 6 ft, you know, do they have bigger beds? And I kind of think, well, do they have bigger beds, and if they do, why can't we have them in Britain? My youngest son

Um, He's has got special needs, and he uses, he has orthotics, orthotically made purpose made shoes. Oh yes, yes. Now those are limited as well, very, very limited in style, design, whatever

Now I managed to find. A company that were making these shoes for the NHS. And it took me so long to get these NH shoes that I went straight to source, right? And we were talking and the lady says, Joshua, but what sort of shoes? And he said, Batman shoes

They made him. Some black shoes with a bit of yellow, was it that man with the yellow, yeah, yeah. And like, and then got motives

Oh, and stuck them on the chute. And this then went to. This man went to the NHS because by the time that they were doing this

The appointment for the NHS came through and they were like, how did you manage to get these? His self-esteem, you know, he was, he, he sort of, his shoulders went up and look at me, I mean these, you know, and. And he was taking photos of his shoes and sending it to everybody and anybody. I've helped co-design some of my solutions, you know, and, uh, uh, and like I say, one of the best experiences was uh when I'm working with an occupational therapist, you know, um, uh, who actually listened instead of giving me what they thought I needed

Yeah, they asked me about my daily routines, my work, er, my aspirations, you know, uh, and the, the result was that, um, they then looked with cod juice the step that cheeser actually made a difference in my life. So, um, that was good and also. When technology um that evolves with me

So in the beginning, I was very. Um, resistant to using equipment cause it made me, I suppose there was lots of stigma around using equipment. It made me feel like, one, my home became like an institution

And you know me, Kurth beaters. I do love a bit of home furnishings, and I don't like, um, white, and I certainly don't like brown. Um, so

I was a bit resistant, but it does make my life a lot easier. It makes doing the things that. Everyone has to do, everyone has to eat at the end of the day, or most people eat at the end of the day, finish work, have something to eat

And just things that you said, like, feel like, oh my God, I'll get to the end of the day, and then I've got another mountain to climb, which would be to make a meal, etc. feel a bit more easier. Some of the things

That I think to painful and loyd me is there have been arguments about. The cost of equipment from the local authority, so they, and it really annoyed me. So I had a hospital bed

So I'm married. How do you think me and my husband are gonna both sleep in a hospital bed? Like they were not having it, um, and then I was fortunate that somebody who had a double bed that did the same thing, gave it to me, so I was really lucky. And I think often

Equipment It's really useful but can. Often be a little bit of a barrier as well. When you don't ever get to meet the people that make these decisions

So people make decisions about what equipment's available locally. There's a catalogue, um, there'll be a, an assessment. And I've had, like, different experiences, some positive experiences of assessments, some not so positive

I worked with a lovely occupational therapist that recommended all this stuff. And I felt like really sad because she, what she recommended. Was outside of what was available, then she had to go back and find the system to get it and you think

This is not a good thing. This doesn't enable people to have choice control and live good lives. I also think equipment isn't seen like personalization sounds and feels a bit sexy, doesn't it? Technology sounds a bit, oh, it's a bit edgy

The equipment's a bit, oh, yeah, equipment, it's not, it doesn't have the same prominence. I don't think the same importance is placed on it. I think there's a lot of

Assuming it's just for older people, if I'm sitting, if I get, so I go into a meeting and I need to put my 6 somewhere and because they have butt handles. Uh, they, they don't hook. Yeah

Yeah. So I, I, therefore carefully balance them on a wall and somebody knocks them. So I spend my entire life, um, with my sticks, um, falling to the ground and somebody needing to pick them up cause I still can't bend down

So that, and that is a major design fault, I think, and. Um, in the, in the sticks. And my daughter has this had had cancer and has cancer and she needed a stick for balance after her femo, and it was in America and it's a nice curved handle

Right? So, so much easier cause you can hook them everywhere. They stay stable. And, and there's an assumption with the sticks, I think that you You only use them, that that that is your life using those sticks and and while you're doing that, they're fine

And, but if you, if you try and do anything else, I mean, shopping, it is the case in point time, push a shopping trolley. I therefore don't need a stick. But I need a stick to go and get the shopping trolley and take it back again

And, uh, and they don't hook onto the trolley. Yeah. Yeah, they are, that's my only complaint is, is the design is the design of the handball

I'm a healthcare professional. I worked as a nurse kind of on my whole work life. Um And, um, I have been really shocked at the kind of lack of provision which and and actually trying to find somebody to take this seriously because I've written to West Street I've I live actually live in Scotland

I've written to Neil grey. Written to the MPs. Um, and it was only one I found, um, Angela's name on, on the Mediu website that I got anywhere because everyone, you know, everyone's just either not responded at all or said, this isn't my problem

It's a, you know, health authority or, you know. Providers thing. And I really don't think it, I think, um, I, I've got another friend who looked after an M and uh, you know, somebody with MND in a different county

And I, and I was talking to him and he said, we've had exactly the same problems. And it's, you know, the equipment that is produced by Leicestershire can't cross a border into Derbyshire or vice versa. And that is just mad

Because if you knew that you had a trolley that would fit somebody that was 6'4, and it was, you know, 1 mile down the road because you're on the border, as we are in Leicestershire, we cross 4 borders and you can't get it across to them because what? It's because of red tape. Yeah, so much, it would have really it would have really changed our lives to have had. I mean, the thing that would change my friend's life would be to have a bed that he could actually sit in comfortably and lie down or uncomfortably

And that seems, you know, you can't, you can't actually even buy one privately because we have looked to see it. There's a way of just making it possible. And he would, you know, be able to fund that, but it just doesn't exist

They shrink the routine obstacles so I can focus on the bigger goals. Perhaps the greatest impact is psychological. Every device, however, small, tells me you can do this on your own terms

That message feeds resonance and keeps me engaged in my own recovery instead of feeling like a passive patient. In short, community equipment doesn't just make daily living possible, it turns daily living into living fully. With a few carefully chosen supports, a bed pull up, a walking frame, raised seating and a steady handrail, I've exchanged dependence for control, fear for safety and limitation for opportunity

It's helped me getting about getting about the house and getting upstairs and and just generally making me confident that I can walk about. And what, and why is that important? What, what does, what impact does that have on your life, feeling like you're able to get about and you're more confident in, in moving around? What different does that have on your life every day? I'd, I'd rather, I'd rather be out and be my normal self this than this. Uh, than using the all this equipment, but at the time I'm very appreciative of it

And actually there's something really important about. Having a home that looks like a hospital. Something important about And I often talk about the environment for me is like really important

So like, softness is really important. Things blending into the kind of everyday environment, but also that it has to be really practical and it has to be, like, really. Functional or if that's even a word, like there's no point having something that looks good

And something that, um, doesn't work. And actually, what I realised is that you can get both of them, they just cost a lot more. Who is, uh, I'm grateful when they use that because I feel I'm a bit too much for the poor little carers to try and help me in and out of bed and whatnot

Well yeah, and you, you're not feeling as strong as you were. So you can't help yourself as much. No, not very much

um I don't do anything, hardly myself. That uh gave me greater uh uh support and enabled me and made me feel less frustrated if that makes, uh seats, which in turn gave me more. Energy to focus on what really matters, you know, and, you know, kicking head

And she's still talking to other uh disabled people about their experiences on how they use the equipment and and and then go. I mean obviously you could do that. and that's why I think part of that should be part of the solution

So, I think, for me, equipment matters because people matter. And many more people could benefit from it if they have those conversations. Cause I think it would be, you know, useful

I don't know what, if they may have, uh, a group of people who draw on care and support, who use community equipment that are involved. Um, cause it's important to give that feedback. But what I really, really wish is I wish that more companies

Whatever you're making. Would think more about accessibility, usability, accessibility. In fact, I wouldn't even call it accessibility

If they're making products, and it could be something simple or something complicated. I think let's call it inclusive design for everybody from the outset. And when I say inclusive design, I also mean accessibility

Whether it's uh using a synthetic voice or braille, or both. Mhm. I think that's, that's really, really crucial

I mean, for example, I love, um, a lot of nice aftershaves and toilettes and aftershave balms and stuff like that. Now there is a French company and they've got a few outlets in London or or you can get their stuff from John Lewis and Amazon called Oxitan. Oxitan en Provence

And now what they have. As part of the Design of the box. Is they actually have the name of the aftershave or perfume or or the toilette, shower gel, etc

They have it in braille as part of the design of the box. OK. It's not something I actually added on, it's there

It's standard of the exactly. Yeah. And that I think it, that is just so

So sensible. Yeah. In this day and age where we are

Saying that everything is to be personalised. Yeah. Why can't we personalise some of the equipment that we're having to use? Just ask for help with equipment that could make a difference, um, to you on a daily basis

Uh, we all know that tech is out there, but it's not all about tech, it's about the practical, very small things. Even down to, um, I have problems with my hands, you get a stand for your kettle, things like that.