Help again..... — Scope | Disability forum
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Help again.....

Pete2
Pete2 Community member Posts: 86 Pioneering
edited August 2019 in Coffee lounge
Ok here goes.....i claim carers allowance and income support for looking after my disabled wife who gets pip at the top level....
my question..........
Can i ask and get a stair lift fitted by any council contractor.....and if i can also get by the same means a wet room bathroom conversion ....and......not being gready ive a small patch of rising damp can i also ask them to fix that even though its not a council house but ours......  i do think iam chancing it here.

Comments

  • April2018mom
    April2018mom Posts: 2,882 Disability Gamechanger
    Have you looked at a DFG? You can use the money to pay for any helpful home adaptation as long as you obtain planning permission from the local council first. Stairlifts are covered. 
    The first step in the process is to ask a occupational therapist to come and assess you and then they will write up a report based on their findings. For more information, see this article https://www.disability-grants.org/disabled-facilities-grant.html
    Hope this helps clarify things for you! Best of luck and let us know what happens. 
  • Imogen_Steele
    Imogen_Steele Community member Posts: 42 Courageous
    Hi Pete, I think you could definitely ask for all of these  adjustments as long as you can evidence why you need them. About 8 years ago an OT came to assess me for any adjustments I might need to make our  non-council house more accessible. The council ended up funding a wet room and a garage conversation to create a downstairs bedroom. It might be worth trying to get in touch with an OT, I hope this may be of some help 
  • April2018mom
    April2018mom Posts: 2,882 Disability Gamechanger
    The council has six months (this does not include planning permission or getting quotes) to decide. The occupational therapist should be able to answer your questions and simplify the process. If you need to do additional work, you may have to pay the costs yourself. Some councils are faster than others so do not lose hope or give up. One more tip, make sure to keep track of costs at all times during the process as well. You can use a spreadsheet for this or a notebook. 
  • Pete2
    Pete2 Community member Posts: 86 Pioneering
    Thanks guys .....will be asking the council some questions re the above.
  • diydaddy
    diydaddy Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    I helped create a guide for a tradespeople forum which will provide the necessary info.
    There are Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) and Housing Grants available so you should gain help towards adapting your home for your wife.
    https://www.myjobquote.co.uk/blog/guide/home-adaptation-disability/
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    HI, everyone else has answered  your query, but I just wanted to add my 2pennarth....

    I`ve had a few jobs done to alter our house...and OTs have been marvellous!

    They`ve always agreed as to what we need and fast tracked me.

    But I also had grants from the MS society.

    The council paid for my 2 ceiling hoists, door widening and grab rails.

    I urgently needed a wet room, but the wait for funding took so long, that after a year, we got a bank loan to pay for it.

    Good luck with your needs.
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Posts: 10,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @Pete2, I hope OT's are able to help with this, and please do keep us updated!
    Scope

  • April2018mom
    April2018mom Posts: 2,882 Disability Gamechanger
    What did the OT say @Pete2? Have you received a copy of the report yet or not? 
  • Pete2
    Pete2 Community member Posts: 86 Pioneering
    As soon as i mentioned OTs my wife said no. She hates officialdom in our house looking at her and taking notes. Shes of the opponion .......if they cannot read her hospital and GP notes to see what her disability is then they are not worthy of their jobs.......actually i stand by her, these hospital records should be enough and our word of her needs should mean something without the zoo keepers checking the animals.  So it looks like cash will be spent to get her what she needs.     Ty all again for your kind replies.
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    Your wife`s medical notes wont be able to tell the OT if a door could be widened, or a grab rail here  or there would steady her.... or how much she would benefit from a wet room. Assessments have to made in person so that a financial cost can be arrived at.
    But if your wife is against being assessed this way, then that`s that. x
  • Pete2
    Pete2 Community member Posts: 86 Pioneering
    Hy pollyanna1052.......i talked to my wife last night about the OTs and she says no way.......i think this stems from those pip  tests this tory goverment has put her through,  even though we could have this work done she wont have them near her.  
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,349 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,

    I had quite a few OT assessments over the years and i've always found them extremely helpful. They are nothing like a PIP assessment in the slightest. They don't interrogate you at all. I agree that you can't tell from any medical records what aids/adaptions are needed around your home, they need to visit you in your own home to determine what exactly they can help with.

    Several years ago my OT managed to get me an adapted property from the housing association within 2 months because the privately rented house i lived in wasn't suitable for my needs and adaptions couldn't be done. I couldn't thank him enough and if it wasn't for him then i would never have got that house.

    Don't be put off by the word "social services" because they are there to help, not to question you or interrogate you.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • david235
    david235 Community member Posts: 170 Pioneering
    Some OTs work for the NHS, some work for Social Services and, of course, some work privately doing such jobs as advising on workplace adaptations.

    Like others who posted in the thread, I have always found OT assessments (and, for that matter, physio assessments) to be very helpful. Though such an assessment is a functional assessment like PIP or LCW/LCWRA (for UC and ESA), that is where the similarity ends. An OT assessment is about working out how aids and adaptations could help - it is typically a far sighted process that puts up reasoned justification for change as well as examining health and safety considerations. This type of assessment is inherently contextual - whilst it is often possible to get a good idea of the sort of problems a disabled person will face from medical notes, no amount of paperwork can give a full picture of how well a disabled person is adapted to each element of their condition and certainly not how well the disabled person is adapted to their environment.


    It is far from unusual for an OT assessment to throw up some simple and inexpensive suggestions that can make a difference even when the main purpose of the assessment is consideration of more major adaptations. A practising OT will be aware of products that most disabled people have never heard of, also their informed and objective viewpoint can reveal that a disabled person's self-assessment of their adaptation and coping ability is over-optimistic (I am certainly guilty of this - I tend to soldier on without aids, adaptations and assistance that I really need).


    Do not underestimate the cost of a wet room conversion @Pete2 - tanking an existing bathroom properly is far from cheap, also it is often impossible to use gravity drainage in an existing bathroom when converting it to a wet room (as the shower floor level is lower after conversion) necessitating the use of a waste water pump. My wet room is a new build extension and did not use DFG money, but the costs were substantial even ten years ago when it was built.

    Your wife likely has very little to lose. If your wife wishes to end an OT assessment because it is all getting too much, she could always politely ask the OT to leave. If she never goes through the process she will never know how much she could have been helped. Moreover, OT reports can be very useful for benefits purposes.

Brightness