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I strongly urge anyone — especially those caring for vulnerable individuals — to look elsewhere for

As an Occupational Therapist and daughter of a person living with Motor Neurone Disease (diagnosed in 2020), I cannot recommend the services of Independent Living Specialists (ILS) Lane Cove for adult equipment hire and servicing based on our recent experience.My mother (diagnosed with MND), father, and her support worker undertook a four-hour journey to Sydney so my mother could visit my sister's newly purchased apartment — a significant and sentimental moment for us all. In preparation, her treating OT (not me) arranged hire of essential equipment through ILS Lane Cove, including a powered bedframe and alternating air mattress — both medically necessary due to her high risk of pressure injuries.The experience quickly deteriorated into a distressing and completely unacceptable ordeal due to ILS’s failure to deliver timely and appropriate support.At 1:00am, the alternating air mattress fully deflated. I was informed at 8:00am and waited until their opening hours at 9:00am to urgently contact ILS. After repeated calls, I finally got through. I explained the situation in detail, confirmed that troubleshooting had already been completed (power supply, CPR valve, etc.), and made it clear that a repair or replacement was urgently required.The response? I was told no one would be available until Monday (this was Saturday). When I raised serious concerns about this delay — particularly in a metropolitan area and for a high-pressure care risk patient — I was told "this doesn’t happen." When I pointed out that it was happening, the response shifted to “well, it doesn’t happen often,” with no proactive solution offered.I had to request escalation and a call back. An hour passed with no update, so I called again — only to be greeted with “oh hi, I was just about to call you.” No, I was calling you to follow up.Eventually, I was told that an on-call technician could attend. I immediately sent photos and a detailed description of concerns by email of the issue. I followed up minutes later to confirm receipt of the email, which was acknowledged.However, hours passed with no further contact. I made three more unanswered calls to ILS to confirm if someone had been dispatched. Out of desperation, I contacted the hotel directly, who confirmed a technician had indeed attended. Hours later, I contacted ILS again for a progress update, and was told they had no information — not the name or contact of the technician, nor any confirmation of what was done. They also had no record of the issue being resolved.Later that day, after their showroom had closed and no further updates were provided, I personally attended the hotel. The outcome? Nothing had been repaired. The mattress was still fully deflated, the pump was beeping with a red alert, and my mother was left with an unsafe and inappropriate care environment.In the absence of any alternative, we were forced to use a standard mattress, placing my mother at serious clinical risk. My father and her support staff are left to complete 2-hourly manual pressure area checks overnight and are departing Sydney a day earlier than anticipated to return home — a situation that was entirely preventable if ILS had listened and responded to the verbal and written concerns I had provided early that morning.This is not just poor customer service — it is a complete failure in duty of care. As a health professional, I find it unconscionable that a provider operating in the complex care space could display such disregard for client safety and family advocacy. The emotional, physical, and clinical impact of this event was significant and entirely avoidable.I strongly urge anyone — especially those caring for vulnerable individuals — to look elsewhere for equipment hire and support services. Based on this experience, ILS Lane Cove cannot be relied upon to provide responsive, competent, or compassionate care when it is most needed.

Date of experience: May 17, 2025