disabled neighbour needs a specialised bed

atrixblue.-MFR-.

as the title says, my neighbour suffers with a very unique illness, he is unable to lay flat or his stomach hits his lungs and they go into spams and gives asthmatic symptoms, he has been assessed by social services, who states he has to have an electric bed as to raise him up to sleep upright his house has been assessed and is not suitaible for a hospital type bed of this nature as the house is to small, and are unable to give any grant towards a bed that will fit into his bedroom, so was advised to claim cummunity care grant instead, he did this and they state that they acknowladge what social services has assessed and stated of his need to a suitable bed, but because social services has said they could provide a bed for him they have denied him the grant and has said that he should re-apply to social services for a suitable bed.

so he called back his case worker who said no it was upto community care grant to provide the grant for him to be able to purchase a suitable bed, their grants only go as far as to supply hospital type beds and as his home is unsuitable they cannot provide this, and falls onto the community care grant DM's to obtain the info assess the information and award based on that the hospital bed isnt possible due to dwelling size and that a smaller electric bed is needed that social services grant do not cover.

he was told to appeal the decision by the social services, and that they will send a letter off to the CCG explaining again that they cannot provide the grant based on the type of bed needed for the dwelling size.

is it me or is he being fobbed off as neither want to pay for a bed? that he needs for his health.

Edit: as i write this he has been on the phone with the CCG and they have denied the grant saying that it's the social services that should supply the bed.

where does he go know tribunal?

dmg24

I agree that he is being fobbed off, and SS should be providing suitable equipment. The whole point of the OT assessment service is to provide suitable adaptations to the home, and it seems they are not doing this because an adaptation is needed! I would appeal to both sides, but from my experience this is something that should be provided by the OT service.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

dmg24 wrote: »

I agree that he is being fobbed off, and SS should be providing suitable equipment. The whole point of the OT assessment service is to provide suitable adaptations to the home, and it seems they are not doing this because an adaptation is needed! I would appeal to both sides, but from my experience this is something that should be provided by the OT service.

The OT service cant provide the bed because of the dewlling size for a two bed house its very small, the only way they would get a hospital electric type bed in the house is by taking the whole window/door and frame out of the rear of the property and place it in the small living room wich will leave no room for a settee and things hence why they say he needs it but cant provide it then fell to SS for a assessment and grant, then CCG who both deny any grant.

i'm boggled i thought CCG at the very least would contribute to one at the very least that suits his needs.

Hammyman

Why not buy his own? Or is that not "done" nowadays? If he gets DLA, that is specifically paid out to cover the extra expense of living with a disability. Having to buy an electrically tiltable bed would come under that so if he does get DLA, he's already had the money for it.

wolfehouse

is there some reason he can't turn the 'small living room' into a bedroom
and use the bedroom as a living room?

Richard1075

The local council has the ability to pay a Disabled Facilities Grant which will pay for the adaptation of a person's home.

Has he been assessed just by a social worker or have the Community Occupational Therapy Service made an assessment? Community OT's can lend equipment to assist. You can get a frame which goes on the bed and the pillow lay on top and this raises the top half of a person's body.

In our area it is the District Nurse Service that loans "hospital" beds - they come in a single size and a size in between single and double. They are no larger than at the most a small double bed and the bed itself comes in pieces and is assembled on site. [I know, as I have a "profiling bed" which is on loan from the Equipment Store and I live in a 2 bedroomed house and there was no trouble fitting it in.]

Purchasing a bed your yourself is very expensive but there are charities that you can apply to for help - if you use the Turn2Us website to search for a charity or trust to help.

Don't give up or be fobbed off - in the meantime purchasing shaped pillows can help to prop him up at night until a better solution is found - sadly all these things take time!

Best Of Luck!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Hammyman wrote: »

Why not buy his own? Or is that not "done" nowadays? If he gets DLA, that is specifically paid out to cover the extra expense of living with a disability. Having to buy an electrically tiltable bed would come under that so if he does get DLA, he's already had the money for it.

he is saving for one dont get me wrong, but was given advice (not by me)as to get a grant towards one suitable he went through all avenues, he's been told he can have a hospital tilt bed but due to the property cant, (housing association) has adjusted the bathroom for him, he has a fitted bathroom for his needs and stair lift, the hospital beds come PRE-ASSEMBLED? unfotunatly in order to adapt the house suitable for this bed to be kept in the front room a supporting wall would have to be knocked through and a RSJ errected to take the weight of the house, then the kitchen would have to be extended into the garden by about 5ft, taking the back wall away and again more support inplace to support the rear of the house, the housing denied him this, or can he legal ask them to do it.
as fr getting a hospital be upstairs its struggle to get a double that splits intwo up my own (three bed prop) and theres only one wall and the banister and cieling, he has two walls either side of the stairs and a low cieling. these houses werent built for practicality of moving in and i can tell you, even a single chair from a 3 peice suite chair has difficulty being put through front door.

everything is done via the rear door via access through a communal lane.

EltonJohnFan

The DWP should be able to help him because as a very badly disabled person myself I've had help previously.
My local council also provided money to adapt my home for me, surely this man should be able to get help of some sort?

I wish him the very best of luck.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Richard1075 wrote: »

The local council has the ability to pay a Disabled Facilities Grant which will pay for the adaptation of a person's home.

Has he been assessed just by a social worker or have the Community Occupational Therapy Service made an assessment? Community OT's can lend equipment to assist. You can get a frame which goes on the bed and the pillow lay on top and this raises the top half of a person's body.

In our area it is the District Nurse Service that loans "hospital" beds - they come in a single size and a size in between single and double. They are no larger than at the most a small double bed and the bed itself comes in pieces and is assembled on site. [I know, as I have a "profiling bed" which is on loan from the Equipment Store and I live in a 2 bedroomed house and there was no trouble fitting it in.]

Purchasing a bed your yourself is very expensive but there are charities that you can apply to for help - if you use the Turn2Us website to search for a charity or trust to help.

Don't give up or be fobbed off - in the meantime purchasing shaped pillows can help to prop him up at night until a better solution is found - sadly all these things take time!

Best Of Luck!

will pass this on, thank you, may help him in the time being while he saves.

C_Mababejive

Is he doomed to remain this way all his life or is there a surgical solution?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Is he doomed to remain this way all his life or is there a surgical solution?

this is where it gets sticky and messy.

he suffers from what is known as a diaphramatic hernia (mostly common in car accident victims) he is unable to bend over lie flat walk any distance due to damaged lungs cause by the stomach (with no diaphram to separate the two) hitting them,

he had an operation to try and correct this but due to incompitence of a surgeon, this failed (i cannot comment any further towards this part as this is in LEGAL proceedings).

without an operation to secure his stomach properly and them continuing to cause damage internally his life expectancy is very low, the wales NHS has declined to re-operate as this operation would need to be done by the same surgeon who has refused to see him they refuse to transure him outside of wales.

even if they did re-operate the damage to the lungs is irreversable,
the effect of the medication, has left him with partial eyesight wich causes him pain in bright light situations and has to wear specialist glasses whilst in and outdoors, as a result again due to the meds, he is developing cateracts and due to his condition reluctant to opertate on, he has an unlimited pain threshold (doesnt feel pain), no taste buds, inanabilty to feel hot or cold that will remain with him for the rest of his expected life after an operation.