Wheelchair Rental (Basse Normandie - Vire/Flers area)

Do any SF members have experience of or know where I can rent a wheel chair for approx 1 month?
A simple, lightweight folding chair is sufficient.
Thanks

If you can say where you are? EDIT : sorry now seen in title

Meanwhile my local pharmacy has all sorts of mobility and other equipment in one of its windows with signs advertising these items for long or short term rent. Everything from oxygen cylinder trolley to adjustable bed to wheelchairs crutches and walking sticks and a lot more besides. I gather some of these rents are even paid for directly to the pharmacy by the French health service if someone is eligible!

Perhaps you could ask your pharmacy or local medical centre if they know who you could contact? It must be a question they get a lot, ours are only small and medium so yours may do too.

Guessing it’s “chaise roulante légère á louer” or similar. EDIT: Errr…I suspect Jane’s French is the correct wording!

Hope that doesn’t mean you have had an accident!

Look for “Location fauteuil roulant léger”. They are available everywhere for a modest price approx 10-15€ a week. But if you have a prescription from your doctor it will be less.

(Edit: It’s perhaps actually a consequence of the French generally wanting to keep people in their homes/with their families that every two bit large village /small town will have somewhere to rent medical material)

another reference for you to consider

or an ordinance from your MT for completion at the local pharmacie.

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated. No accident thankfully, my father is hoping to visit for a while (covid restrictions allowing) and I’m trying to persuade him to consider a wheelchair for when we have days out. He walks with two sticks and cannot walk far from the car. Not sure his blue badge is valid in France after Brexit?

I am interested to know this - my parents are visiting this week (first time in 2 years).

Not valid according to this from HMG

Ffs - looks like I need to move to Liechtenstein.

Thanks Brexit.

Interesting to see… which close countries do NOT accept the Blue Badge …

Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain… and others further afield…

Not so sure this can be blamed on Brexit…

It’s one of the many, many things like car licenses that were not negotiated, I asked a two Gendarmes about using one and they said they had not been advised that it was not accepted and if it was the old style with the EU stars on it they would not give it a second glance.

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If an arrangement was in place before Brexit that is no longer valid and has not been resolved through the endless negotiations so far - it must either be the fault of Brexit or the incompetent negotiators or am I missing something?

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Surely, if it was a blanket Brexit thingy… it would be refused across the board by the EU countries… some do and some don’t…

Seems to me it has been thought about (rather than forgotten) and countries have made their own decisions… just like the UK did when it was (itself) a member of the EU…

Probably best that this particular discussion does not descend into another rant about the stupidity of Brexit.

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Aren’t those countries where the badge is valid EEA countries rather than EU ones?

The likes of Belgium, France and Greece are EEA countries though.

of course they are… but they are also EU members. I didn’t suggest for a moment that the EEA countries are exclusively since there are some that are not included - Switzerland for example. Why that should be, I have no idea. I merely linked to the HMG reference :wink:

I wonder if it is like the licences that individual Embassies are negotiating with their respective countries, that’s why it tells you to contact them.

You might want to check with a local pharmacie. They can probably help you with info.

Are French / European Blue badges recognised in the UK?

Good question.