Wheelchair Alliance Community Interest Company

Private and voluntary organisations · Community interest company

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First report 14 Apr 2026•Latest report 14 Apr 2026

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Reports
1

Naming this recipient

Published responses
0%

Found for named reports

Concerns addressed
0

Across all linked responses

Stated actions
0

Described in responses

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from Wheelchair Alliance Community Interest Company linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

  1. Manchester South

    AI-generated summary

    Susan Toft · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    Susan Toft, a wheelchair user, was injured when her adapted vehicle braked suddenly and she slipped from her wheelchair into the passenger footwell. She later died in hospital from myocardial infarction and pneumonia, with sepsis and fractures also recorded in the medical cause of death. Concerns included failure of the wheelchair cushion attachment and inadequate fitting of the vehicle seat belt to her wheelchair and position.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Wheelchair Alliance Community Interest Company; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to assess and maintain adequate vehicle occupant-restraint fit for the wheelchair and wheelchair user

    Wider context from the report

    “Concern Two Section 5 of the above said Guidelines sets out in some detail the importance of ensuring the adequacy of the fit of the vehicle restraint system to the individual wheelchair and wheelchair user. It was surprising therefore to learn at the inquest that upon collecting the adapted vehicle STs husband was only given a demonstration of how to secure the wheelchair to the vehicle. That there was no assessment of any need to make adjustments to the vehicle occupant restraints to ensure an adequate fit by assessing ST’s position and safety in the vehicle, using her current wheelchair, and to advise a reassessment should the wheelchair be changed. As a consequence, the vehicle occupant seat belt did not fit properly across ST’s lap, contributing to her being thrown into the footwell. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to Wheelchair Alliance Community Interest Company; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure to provide reliable seat-cushion attachment during repeated fitting and removal

    Wider context from the report

    “Concern One Section 4.5 deals with the seat cushion, and 4.5.1 – cushion attachment. From a seating function perspective, the stability of a cushion is a fundamental requirement. Therefore, the means of attachment of the cushion to the wheelchair support surface needs to be capable of repeated fitting and removal without impairment or deterioration. Cushions may need to be frequently removed for cleaning and maintenance, and an individual user may have a number of cushions for short or long term use. This cushion’s attachment failed after just 9 months of use. The above said Guidelines state that Velcro is strong in shear but less so in tension. Also that the adhesive must have sufficient shear strength. It seems that repeated removal of the cushion for cleaning and maintenance risks exceeding and weakening the relative strengths of the Velcro system itself and the adhesive used to secure the Velcro strip to the wheelchair base. In the circumstances my concern is that there may be more robust and more reliable methods of securing the seat cushion to the wheelchair base, that would negate the risk of detachment, as occurred in this case. ”
    Open source report
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Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026