🧠☕ We meet up for a coffee and I pull out a chair for you to sit on opposite me. The chair is filthy. It's covered in tea and coffee stains, damp, smells unpleasant, has crumbs stuck in the corner, stains and looks like it hasn't been cleaned in months. Despite all of that, I still expect you to sit in it while we chat. Would you? Of course you wouldn't, most of us would be looking for another chair. One of the things we talk about during Moving and Assisting training is wheelchairs, not just how to use them safely, but how important it is to maintain them properly too. The reality is that wheelchairs are often one of the most overlooked pieces of equipment in care. They're used every day. They pick up crumbs, stains, mud, dust and dirt. Drinks get spilled on them. Food gets dropped into them. Wheels get clogged up. Footplates get covered in muck. Controls become sticky. Dust gathers. Cobwebs appear. Before long, what should be someone's seat, independence and freedom becomes something people stop noticing altogether. Yet for many individuals, this is where they spend 12, 14, 16 hours of their day. So why do we expect people to sit in a dirty, dusty, stained, unpleasant-smelling wheelchair all day long when most of us wouldn't sit in a filthy coffee shop chair for ten minutes? How is that dignified? How is that person-centred? How is that fair? Whether it's the first transfer of the day or the fifth, we should be supporting people back into a wheelchair that's clean, comfortable and cared for. 🧽 Wipe it down. 🪶 Get rid of the dust and cobwebs. 🔧 Check it for damage. 🛞 Clean the wheels. ✅ Wash covers and cushions where needed. 🕹️ Clean the controls and contact points. These sound like small things, But small things have a massive impact on dignity, comfort, wellbeing and quality of life. When I visit care services, this is one of the things I always look out for. Not because it's complicated. But because it's often forgotten. 💭 Out of interest, what are the small things you look out for when visiting or working in a care service? What subtle signs tell you the difference between good care and great care? The standards we walk past are often the standards we accept. #HealthAndSocialCare #DignityInCare #PersonCentredCare #MovingAndAssisting #WheelchairAwareness #CareQuality #SocialCare #CareTraining #Healthcare #LeadershipInCare