Power Chair with Elevating Leg Rest

A power chair with elevating leg rest supports, sometimes listed with an elevating footrest or raised wheelchair footrest, is a significant purchase, and it is rarely one to make from a product page alone. Powered seating, leg elevation and controls all need setting up for the person who will use them, and the chair will need servicing for years. This guide walks through the buying journey: assessment, trying chairs, questions for the supplier, and what happens after the chair arrives.

Why Might You Need Elevating Leg Rests on a Power Chair?

Elevating leg supports help manage lower-limb swelling, improve blood circulation and accommodate joint stiffness by raising the occupant’s legs throughout the day. Is it comfort during long days, a need to change position, stiffness in the knees, or advice from a health professional after an injury or because of swelling? The reason shapes everything else.

If a medical reason is involved, speak to your GP or an occupational therapist before looking at chairs. They can say whether raising the legs is appropriate, how often, and whether other seating features would help. That advice gives you something concrete to take to suppliers.

How Does an Occupational Therapy Assessment Help with Leg Rest Selection?

A clinical seating assessment evaluates joint range of movement and skin integrity to ensure powered leg elevation works in harmony with the user’s seated pelvis. A GP, physiotherapist, occupational therapist or hospital staff can refer you, and some areas accept self-referrals. You can read how an assessment is usually arranged in the NHS overview of mobility equipment. It also mentions the personal wheelchair budget, which may allow you to put money towards a different chair, and the Motability Scheme for some people using certain benefits. Ask your local service what applies to you.

Even if you plan to buy privately, an assessment can help you understand which features matter and which you can do without.

Step Three: Learn the Options

Before visiting suppliers, get a feel for the main choices:

• Manual elevating leg rests. Raised by a lever or ratchet, often needing a carer if the user cannot reach down.
• Powered leg elevation. Operated from the controller or a switch, letting the user adjust without help.
• Independent or linked. Some systems raise each leg separately; others raise both together on a single platform.
• Combined seating functions. Some chairs also offer tilt, recline or seat raise. Ask the occupational therapist or wheelchair service whether any of these suit the user before paying for them.

Wheelchair Leg Rest Styles on Power Chairs

On many power chairs, each wheelchair leg rest hangs from a bracket at the front of the seat and swings outwards for transfers. Others use a single centre-mounted platform that lifts both legs and folds up out of the way. Swing-away pairs make it easier to stand up or transfer sideways, while a centre platform keeps the front of the chair narrow. Which suits the user depends on how they transfer and how much room there is at home, so bring this up at the assessment.

Step Four: Try Before You Buy

Trying a power chair is important. Ask suppliers whether they offer demonstrations, either at a showroom or at home. During a trial, pay attention to:

• how the leg supports are raised, lowered and swung aside;
• whether the user can operate the controls comfortably;
• how the chair turns in tight spaces with supports raised and lowered;
• how comfortable the calf pads and footplates feel after some time;
• whether a carer can manage any parts they need to handle.

If possible, try more than one chair. Differences that look small on paper often feel large in use.

Step Five: Questions for the Supplier

A good supplier will answer clearly and in writing. Useful questions include:

• Which leg support options are available for this model, and can they be changed later?
• Who sets up the chair for the user, and is that included?
• If something breaks on a weekday evening, who do we phone, and is there an engineer covering our postcode?
• What does the warranty cover, including powered seating parts and leg supports?
• Are spare calf pads, footplates and hangers available, and how long do they take to arrive?
• If the powered leg elevation fails, can the supports be lowered manually?
• Adding powered legs and other extras can change what the chair is designed to carry; please confirm the user limit in writing for the exact specification being quoted.

Ask about delivery, set-up and handover, and whether any delivery offer or trial period applies. Avoid choosing on range or speed claims alone; ask how the figures were measured and what affects them.

What Comfort Checks Should You Perform During a Powered Leg Rest Trial?

During a product trial, check that the calf pads support the lower legs evenly without pinching tissues behind the knees during full elevation. With the supports raised, check whether the calf pads sit in the right place along the lower leg, whether the heels rest comfortably on the footplates, and whether anything presses behind the knee. Lower and raise the supports several times to see whether the position shifts. If the user has fragile skin, ask a district nurse or occupational therapist what signs to watch for once the chair is in daily use.

Ask too whether different calf pads or footplates are available, because small changes to these parts can make a noticeable difference to comfort.

Ex-Demonstration and Used Power Chairs

Some suppliers sell ex-demonstration or refurbished chairs. These can be good value, but check the history, what has been replaced, and the warranty offered. Make sure the leg supports are the right type for the user and that the supplier will set the chair up for them rather than leaving the previous settings. With private second-hand sales, you may have no servicing support at all, so find out who could repair the chair before buying.

Where Carers Fit In

Even with powered leg elevation, carers often handle parts of the routine: swinging supports aside for transfers, cleaning the calf pads, or adjusting footplates. Involve them in the trial. A wheelchair leg support that is easy for the user but heavy or awkward for the carer can still cause problems in daily life.

Step Six: Think About the Whole Cost

Beyond the chair itself, consider servicing, spare parts, batteries over time, insurance and accessories. If you are eligible, you may not have to pay VAT on equipment for disabled people; the government’s page on VAT relief for disabled people explains who can claim. Ask the supplier whether they can apply it.

Step Seven: Handover and Set-Up

When the chair arrives, the supplier should set it up for the user: seat position, controller settings, leg support adjustment and footplate height. Ask them to show the user and carers how to raise, lower and remove the leg supports, how to charge the chair, and what routine checks to carry out. Keep the handbook and the supplier’s contact details somewhere easy to find.

Step Eight: Living with It

In the first weeks, note anything that is awkward: a control that is hard to reach, a calf pad that rubs, a support that is slow to lower. Contact the supplier while things are fresh. Needs change over time, so review the set-up with the occupational therapist or wheelchair service if the user’s condition or routine changes.

Keep a simple log of any faults and service visits. It helps the supplier diagnose problems, and it is useful evidence if a warranty claim is needed.

Related Pages

For more on powered chairs, see the power wheelchair guide and power wheelchair cost page. For leg supports specifically, the wheelchair elevated leg rest page covers the parts, and power wheelchair with attendant control explains carer controls.