Assessing for Aids, Equipment and Adaptations

Finding out what you need is the first stage, and we can only adapt your home after your needs have been assessed.

An Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy assistant will visit you in your home to assess your needs and provide advice.

Your assessment will involve gathering medical information from yourself and possibly consultation with carers or other medical/health professionals. This will also include physical and functional assessments of your abilities within your home. This includes observation of you climbing the stairs, transferring on and off bed, chairs etc., and using any equipment deemed appropriate. We will always look at using your existing facilities via equipment and minor adaptations before considering larger scale adaptations.

Day-to-day Equipment

If assessment determines that you need equipment to make your day-to-day life easier, this will be provided free of charge. We aim to deliver equipment as soon as possible following your assessment, and timeframes for delivery of equipment will be discussed with you at the time of your assessment.

Depending on need, some people may require specialist or bespoke equipment. If you have been assessed as required specialist equipment, timescales for delivery of this equipment can be longer. However, this will be discussed with you during your assessment.

Examples of equipment:

– Toilet frames

– Bath boards

– Bed levers

 

Minor Adaptations

If the outcome of the assessment is that you require minor adaptations to keep you independent, these will be provided free of charge up to a value of £1500.

If you rent your property from a private or social landlord, we will require their consent before any adaptations can be carried out.

Examples of minor adaptions:

– Grab rails

– Stair banisters

– Outdoor rails

– Step alternations

 

Major Adaptations

Major Adaptation is a structural alteration to your home, helping you to stay safe and independent.

Examples of a Major Adaptations include:

– Level Access Showers

– Alterations to provide access into and around your home

– Stair lifts, vertical lifts, ceiling track hoists

– Bedroom alterations

Major adaptations will only be considered when the difficulties you experience cannot be resolved by equipment and/or minor adaptations.

If a Major Adaptation is recommended and agreed, the occupational therapist will refer you to Housing Adaptations Service who will progress the application. You will be advised whether the required adaptations are likely to trigger a financial assessment.

Financial help towards Major Adaptations

Tameside Council currently offers a discretionary grant up to £7000. If the work costs more than this, you may be eligible to apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of up to £30,000 depending on the level of work required. Access to DFG is based on the recommendation of your Occupational Therapist. You may be financially assessed to determine whether you will be required to pay a contribution towards the cost of the works.

For further information please visit www.gov.uk/disabled-facilities-grants

To qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant a financial assessment is required. You will need to provide a detailed breakdown of your (and where applicable, your partner’s) income and any savings that you have – this includes proof of all savings, pensions, allowances and benefits, wages and other income, including bank statements for all bank or building society accounts you hold.

If your property is owned by a Housing Association, your landlord will be required to give permission for the work to take place. In most cases, the Housing Association will work with us to arrange for the adaptations to be installed and may involve an application for a Disabled Facilities Grant as described above.

If you feel that you may not be eligible for a Disabled Facilities Grant for financial reasons or are not willing to disclose your financial information, you can purchase items such as stair lifts and showers privately.

 

Refer for an Assessment

All new referrals/queries that are not known to Adult Care Service should be made via The Community Gateway team on:

Call us: 0161 922 4888