Equipment and Home Adaptations
Where a person has been assessed as having an ‘eligible need’ for equipment or home adaptations for a person with a disability, Social Services should help arrange these. Each local authority will have their own criteria, published on their website or available on request, which describes what is and is not an eligible need.
What Kind of Equipment and Adaptations Might I Be Entitled To?
Social Services will have carried out an assessment to establish a person’s needs for equipment and changes to their home environment to enable them to manage their disability. Some examples are provided below:
- Bath hoists,
- Panic alarms,
- Textphones/telephones,
- Grab rails,
- Wheelchair ramps,
- Widening of doors for wheelchair access
Minor equipment and major and extremely expensive adaptations are all covered, the real question is whether a person has been assessed as needing that adaptation or equipment. Some local authority criteria is not correct or lawful, or they misapply the correct criteria for whether the work should be arranged.
Carers are also entitled to an assessment to establish whether they themselves need equipment or adaptations to help them carry out their role as a carer.
Will I have to Pay?
Social Services can charge for some equipment and adaptations, but in practice this does not always happen. Equipment provided under certain legislation must be free of charge, and minor adaptations under the same legislation, costing less than £1,000, must also be provided free of charge to the individual.
Direct payments may also be paid for equipment and adaptations, and there are also Community Care grants and loans available.
Healthcare equipment, like specially adapted beds, wheelchairs etc should be provided by the NHS free of charge, and a GP can prescribe certain equipment, like catheters etc, for the standard prescription charge. Arguably, continence equipment, like sheets, pads etc, should be provided by the NHS free of charge.
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