Deputy Mike Hadley with a full copy of the Flower report which he handed to fellow members. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0726297)

A petition to force Health and Social Services to introduce a dedicated wheelchair service will go to the States in April.

Former board member Mike Hadley is leading the requete as he steps up his campaign. It was handed in late yesterday with the requisite seven signatures.

But others approached have refused to sign it, some because they had not read the HSSD report Deputy Hadley handed to all members on Wednesday.

The requete said that a report commissioned by the department in August 2007 contained compelling evidence that wheelchair users could suffer pain and develop long-term health problems and that considerable costs were being incurred by Health and Social Services due to the absence of a dedicated service.

‘Even with the knowledge of the information in the report, the introduction of such a service was given a low priority and in January 2009 the board deferred it again,’ it said.

The petitioners argue this should be addressed ‘without delay’.