Free equipment to help you
There is a wide range of equipment and communication aids available to help improve your quality of life, which can be provided through the NHS or your local authority.
If you’re waiting for the NHS, your local authority or another organisation to provide you with what you need, we may be able to give, or lend, you the equipment if it has been recommended by a health and social care professional.
Are you a health and social care professional who wishes to request equipment for someone living with MND? Then please use our equipment – professional referral form.
How it works
Got a question about our equipment service?
Speak to your MND clinical nurse specialist about what you need. For general enquiries you can contact our team on 0141 332 3903 or use our contact form below.
Your healthcare team may recommend equipment to you that could help you live more independently. Or you could speak to your MND clinical nurse specialist (CNS) about the equipment you think you need and ask about its suitability.
Please note: we can’t send you any item without the approval of
your CNS or another member of your healthcare team, such as
an occupational therapist or speech and language therapist.
Your MND clinical nurse specialist or another health and social care professional must request equipment on your behalf.
Our team will review your details and the equipment you’ve requested. If your application is successful, we’ll notify you, or your healthcare team, and your equipment will be with you as soon as possible.
All our equipment is provided free of charge and you will not have to pay anything for delivery or collection after use.
After receiving your equipment, you can keep it for however long you need it. Although please get in touch with us if you no longer need a loaned item, for example, if you receive the same or similar equipment from the NHS or another organisation. We’ll then arrange with you to pick it up.
If you’ve received an item to keep that you no longer need, you can choose to do whatever you like with it. For example, you could sell it and donate the money you receive to MND Scotland; pass it on to someone else living with MND; donate it to a hospice or care home.
"The Neater Eater I received from MND Scotland gives me a real sense of independence. It also means my wife does not have to feed me and she can enjoy her meal without interruption."
Our range of equipment and technology
Below is an overview of the range of equipment we may be able loan or give to you, but please note we cannot provide you with equipment unless you have been referred by a health and social care professional, so please speak to your MND clinical nurse specialist first.
We haven’t provided details about specific types or models of equipment or technology because new items regularly come onto the market. We have provided information about the ways equipment could help you live more comfortably and independently.
Eat and drink independently
We offer a range of equipment that can help you eat and drink independently in a comfortable way.
Communicate more effectively
If you’re experiencing problems speaking, writing or typing, we can loan you a range of helpful technology. Please remember that by law Health Boards in Scotland must provide a communication aid to anyone who needs one.
Increase your activity levels
We offer a range of equipment to help you move independently, strengthen the muscles in your unaffected limbs and maintain flexibility in those that are affected.
Sit, stand, transfer and lay comfortably
We offer specialist furniture and equipment, such as a riser-recliner chair, to improve your quality of life.
Record your voice for the future
If you have MND, live in Scotland and want to preserve your voice for the future, MND Scotland will cover the cost of you using the SpeakUnique service.
Based at Edinburgh University, SpeakUnique uses voice banking technology that allows people to communicate in their own voice via a speech aid when natural speech is no longer possible.
If you’re already experiencing speech difficulties, the service can also partially repair your voice as it records it. This means if you start to use a communication aid in the future, it will sound more like your normal voice.
If you’ve already lost your speech entirely, SpeakUnique can also create a bespoke voice for you to use from its large bank of voices. These include voices with Scottish regional accents.
For more information about the SpeakUnique service, please contact our team on 0141 332 3903 or info@mndscotland.org.uk or visit the SpeakUnique website, where you can register and apply to access the service. When asked to pay, there is a drop-down which allows you to put MND Scotland as your funder.
Equipment and Adaptations Grant
You could use your grant to fully or partly pay for a wide range of equipment, technology or home adaptations that help to improve your life.
Potential adaptations include the fitting of a stairlift, converting your bathroom to a wet room or turning a downstairs room into a bedroom.
Other ways we can support you
Accessible holidays
Specialist holiday homes in stunning Scottish locations. Fully equipped to meet your needs.
Counselling for carers
Caring for a person living with motor neuron disease can be extremely hard, we’re here to help.
Advocacy
Our advocacy team are ready to listen to your concerns and help solve any issues you’re facing.
Benefits advice
Our free benefits service can help you claim financial support you’re entitled to.
Grants for you
We offer a wide range of grants to help you live a good life and ease money worries.
Free counselling
We offer tailored counselling sessions to people living with MND and carers.
Support Services Referral
If you have a general question about the service or any other services we provide, you can also use the form below.
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