Stairlifts

A stairlift comprising:

• a rail;
• a carriage displaceable along said rail;
• a user control displaceable by a user to effect movement of said carriage along said rail;
• a diagnostic facility configured to detect faults arising in the operation of the stairlift, wherein said diagnostic facility is further configured to identify the nature of a fault and to issue to a stairlift user a voice-based output in response to that fault, wherein said voice-based output comprises an instruction to the user relating to operation of the user control;
• and
• an upper stop point at an upper end of the rail and a lower stop point at a lower end of the rail, wherein a fault comprises the carriage coming to a halt between said upper stop point and said lower stop point in response to said user control assuming an off position, and wherein said diagnostic facility is configured to issue the voice-based output comprising an instruction to a user to displace the user control into an operating position to effect movement of said carriage toward a stop point.