Occupational Therapist from council

moremore

Friend needed changes made to his kitchen and bathroom for a disability had these people around about 8 times last year and they ended up more of hindrance than been helpful. Got no help whatso ever from them and found them time wasters.

He was shocked when one of them went into other rooms of patents homes invited to do so. He felt that they were just been nosey - do OT's have the authority to do this.

BlueCow1975

Hi moremore. May I suggest that if your friend is unhappy with the service that he has received then he should put his concerns in writing and forward them to the occupational therapy manager / team leader from the local authority. This should be dealt with and his queries answered.

Has he ever had any assessment reports or letters written to him explaining the outcome and plan of action from the assessment visits?

In honesty 8 visits is quite a lot in relation to an adaptation request. Were they all related to the adaptation (ie. could some of them been from rehab teams)?

It is quite common practice for OT staff to assess the whole property when considering adaptations as it is part of the problem solving process in considering the most viable solution to meeting an individuals needs. Things like location of water supply, drainage systems etc etc need to be taken into account. Generally though it is common practice to explain this and get consent prior to accessing other areas of the home.

Unfortunately, there is generally a lot of criteria that needs to be met to qualify for home adaptations (and I am afraid this criteria is often out of the hands of the OT staff). The disabled facilites grant process to fund major adaptations can be lengthy also.

Bottom line though, if your friend us unhappy put it in writing and get some answers.