Over the years, McElmeel Mobility Services, the UK and Ireland’s longest established Convertor and Adaptor of vehicles for disabled drivers and passengers, have been asked to develop solutions that provide a safe and secure internal environment, both for someone travelling in their own space or when multiple people are travelling in the same space.

As we take into account the three key Acts that set down guidelines in this field; the Mental Health Act 1983, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with reference to the "Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards", we appreciate the challenges parents and professionals are now facing, understanding that some solutions that may have been used in the past might now be deemed unsuitable.

We have always empowered families and professionals to navigate this journey and the request for our involvement has become more common in what is still a relatively new area of solution provision. Care providers are still struggling to find clarity between interpretation, guidance and practicality when trying to imagine the most suitable and best value response to travelling with individuals who exhibit challenging behaviour(s), so we are here to support you in the practise of carrying out Risk Assessments as a necessary step in the provision of a solution. Through carrying out a risk assessment, you can address concerns risen by the three Acts and ensure you have taken every step to protect the rights of the individual as you strive to access a suitable mode of transport.

With your Risk Assessment in hand, McElmeel Mobility Services are committed to engaging with you, offering a proactive approach in finding solutions to ensure those in our care are not housebound due to the lack of a suitably deemed solution. In practise this might be a simple as offering removeable or permanent, Perspex space dividers, specialist seating and or postural support devices, or we might need to go further and install a level of protective trim to the internal surfaces.  

If you would like to know more about risk assessments and the range of products available to you, visit us at stand D40 the OT show – Nov 26th and 27th in the NEC Birmingham to see some Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles with fixed and removeable Perspex screens and some postural support harnesses and we can chat you through Safe and Secure Internal Environments.