For someone spending weeks or months in hospital or a rehabilitation centre following a serious injury or illness, getting home for Christmas can mean much more than making a journey from one place to another.
It can mean spending time with children, partners and friends. Joining family traditions. Seeing how everyday life feels outside a clinical environment. And, for some people, taking another important step towards independence.
But there is a practical question that can easily get overlooked:
How will they actually get around?
Having access to appropriate transport can determine whether someone currently staying in a rehabilitation facility is able to spend Christmas at home at all — whether that means going home for Christmas Day, staying for a few nights, or spending a longer period with family over the festive season.
The clinical and practical arrangements may be in place for someone to leave the facility temporarily, but transport can still be the missing piece: how will they get home safely, and how will they get back to the rehabilitation facility afterwards?
For someone whose mobility has changed significantly following injury or illness, the family car may no longer be suitable. Finding an appropriate vehicle for a relatively short period can therefore make the difference between spending Christmas in a rehabilitation setting and being able to spend that time at home.
At Open Road Access (ORA), we believe transport should therefore be considered as part of the wider rehabilitation plan – particularly when somebody’s mobility has changed significantly.
Getting home is only the first journey
Planning for discharge or time at home understandably involves a long list of considerations.
Is the home accessible? What equipment is required? What support will the person need? Are family members or carers prepared? What medication needs to be arranged?
Those questions can become particularly visible at Christmas, when normal services may be reduced and people understandably want to participate in family and social life.
It’s important transport isn’t forgotten off that list.
NHS guidance on leaving hospital specifically includes arrangements for getting somebody home, while NICE recommends early, multidisciplinary discharge planning for people undergoing rehabilitation after traumatic injury. Government guidance also emphasises supporting people to return to the right place with support that maximises their independence.
For someone currently staying in a rehabilitation facility, spending time at home over Christmas might mean Christmas Day with family, an overnight stay, a few days at home, or a longer break over the festive period.
The transport challenge can be quite specific. Their usual family car may no longer be suitable following their injury, while arranging individual taxis or other transport may not provide the flexibility they need for the visit.
A short-term accessible vehicle can offer another option: a suitable vehicle for the period they are at home, driven by an approved family member or other driver, and available for the return journey to the rehabilitation facility.
That can make the visit feel much more like being home, rather than simply being transported there and back.
Also Read: Getting a Patient Home: Transport Options for Rehab Teams
Transport can support rehabilitation, not just discharge
Rehabilitation is ultimately about enabling somebody to rebuild their life following injury or illness. That can include clinical progress, but also confidence, relationships, participation and independence.
Short-term rehabilitation services themselves focus on helping people regain independence and return to everyday activities following hospitalisation, injury or illness.
Transport is an important part of making that possible.
For some clients, having a suitable vehicle available at home can mean a partner, family member or other approved driver can support journeys without arranging separate transport each time.
It can make spontaneous activities more realistic. It can support continued attendance at rehabilitation. And it can help somebody begin discovering what life outside the rehabilitation environment now looks like.
That doesn’t mean a hired vehicle is right for everybody. Public transport, taxis, community transport and patient transport all have important roles and may be the best solution for particular journeys. The NHS highlights a range of transport options available to people with mobility needs.
The question is simply whether the current arrangement supports the person’s wider rehabilitation goals, rather than solving one journey at a time.
The right vehicle isn’t always a WAV
One of the most important things ORA has learnt from working across rehabilitation is that an accessible transport need does not automatically mean somebody needs a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV).
Some people do.
For somebody who needs to remain seated in their wheelchair while travelling, an appropriately matched wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) may provide the right solution.
But rehabilitation needs are varied.
A client might be temporarily using a wheelchair following surgery or injury but able to transfer into a passenger seat.
Someone recovering from an amputation may have a very different requirement.
A person recovering from an acquired brain injury might walk independently but experience fatigue and benefit from particular accessible vehicle features like lane assist.
Another client may be progressing towards returning to driving and need to explore adapted vehicles.
The starting point should therefore be:
What does this person need to be able to do?
From there, the appropriate transport solution can be considered.
Christmas can also be an opportunity to trial what works
One challenge during rehabilitation is that needs change.
What somebody requires three months after an injury may be different from what they require after six months or a year. That can make permanent transport decisions difficult.
A family might know their current car no longer works, for example, without yet knowing exactly what the long-term replacement should be.
Hiring can create breathing room.
A temporary vehicle can help meet an immediate need without requiring somebody to make a permanent purchasing decision while their rehabilitation is still progressing.
A Christmas hire can also provide useful real-world experience.
Is there enough room for the wheelchair and equipment?
Can the person enter and exit comfortably?
Can their partner or family member drive the vehicle confidently?
Does travelling in their wheelchair work well, or might transferring into a passenger seat become preferable later?
What becomes possible once the vehicle is available?
Those experiences can help inform longer-term decisions.
Professionals can help identify the transport need early
For case managers, occupational therapists, rehabilitation providers, solicitors and other professionals supporting an injured person, one of the most useful questions may simply be:
“How will you get around when you’re home?”
That conversation is particularly valuable before discharge.
It may reveal that a family has already developed a workable solution.
But it can also reveal hidden barriers: a family car the client can no longer enter, reliance on one relative, expensive repeated taxi journeys, uncertainty about wheelchair transport or simply no plan beyond the journey home.
Where external funding is involved, early conversations can also allow time for options and costs to be considered before transport becomes urgent.
NICE specifically recommends providing information and support early where funded equipment may be needed following discharge, recognising that applications can take time.
The same principle is useful when considering transport: identify the need before it becomes a last-minute problem.
What should you consider when arranging accessible vehicle hire for Christmas?
The right questions will depend on the individual, but useful starting points include:
- Will the person travel seated in a wheelchair?
- What mobility equipment needs to travel with them?
- Who will drive?
- What journeys do they want or need to make?
- How long will the vehicle be required?
- Is this primarily a Christmas solution, a bridge while needs develop, or potentially the start of a longer-term arrangement?
- Who will fund the transport?
- Are there rehabilitation goals that access to the vehicle could help support?
How ORA can help
Open Road Access provides flexible accessible and adapted vehicle hire across the UK.
Our service supports people in a wide range of circumstances, including hospital discharge and recovery, temporary changes in mobility, rehabilitation, holidays and family occasions, and periods while people wait for a longer-term vehicle. ORA hire can range from short-term rental through to longer-term arrangements.
Depending on someone’s requirements, the right solution might be a wheelchair accessible vehicle, an adapted car or another kind of accessible vehicle that better suits their needs.
Our team can work with individuals, families and rehabilitation professionals to understand the situation and explore appropriate options.
And if needs change as rehabilitation progresses, the transport plan can change too.
Start the conversation before Christmas
For many of us, Christmas is associated with home, family and spending time with the people who matter.
For somebody going through rehabilitation, being able to participate in that can carry particular significance.
Transport shouldn’t be the reason somebody misses out.
If you are supporting a client who is hoping to spend time at home this Christmas – or whose current transport arrangements may limit what they can do once there – speak to ORA as early as possible.
We can help you explore what they need now, what vehicle options may be appropriate and whether flexible hire could help them get home – and get out and about – this Christmas.
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