Call for back-up plan as NRS Healthcare set to go bust

The chairman of Stormont’s health committee has called for contingency plans to be put in place as a company supplying wheelchairs to the health service in Northern Ireland is on the brink of going bust.

NRS Healthcare is contracted by the Department of Health (DoH) to provide wheelchairs to patients being discharged from hospital or requiring assistance in their homes.

The BBC understands it is expected to run out of cash by the end of the week.

The DoH said it was “developing contingencies” to support people.

Philip McGuigan, a Sinn Féin MLA who chairs the health committee, told BBC News NI he was “concerned” at reports of the company being on the “brink of collapse”.

“I have written to the health minister to establish the Department of Health’s reliance on this company and to ask if a contingency plan is in place, patient safety and wellbeing must be paramount.”

NRS Healthcare said it was “exploring all options to safeguard services and protect the communities who rely on them”.

The company employs about 1,500 people across the UK and is based in Leicestershire.

It finds and supplies a wide range of equipment from wheelchairs and hoists to hospital beds and pendants which monitor falls.

With a site in Lisburn, the company also maintains and repairs equipment.

NRS Healthcare’s accounts say it suffered a costly cyber attack last year and it is also understood to have been losing money on some of its contracts with councils.

Like other firms, it will have been juggling the impact of inflation and rising costs, including employer’s national insurance.

In a statement, the DoH said “contingencies are being developed” in order to support these services, and officials are “considering how best to ensure service users continue to receive high-quality care”.