Disability costs ? (leisure, adaptations etc? )

GlasweJen

My dad owns and drives a wheelchair accessible taxi. It's a ride on model so driver gets out, engages ramp and then helps clamp in the wheelchair - well that's the theory. He has been asked to push bariatric chair users up the ramp and then back down with zero training and the worst people for it are local care homes.

He doesn't mind pushing a chair, he pushes me about often enough but he did complain to a care home head office when a care assistant refused to board their wheelchair user into the car when dad was recovering from appendix surgery (open, not keyhole).

Richie-from-the-Boro

GlasweJen wrote: »

My dad owns and drives a wheelchair accessible taxi. It's a ride on model so driver gets out, engages ramp and then helps clamp in the wheelchair - well that's the theory. He has been asked to push bariatric chair users up the ramp and then back down with zero training and the worst people for it are local care homes.

He doesn't mind pushing a chair, he pushes me about often enough but he did complain to a care home head office when a care assistant refused to board their wheelchair user into the car when dad was recovering from appendix surgery (open, not keyhole).

To Jen

Additional 'handling' training is available, its expensive and the cost will be your dad's or the company he works for, that's fair, that's the profit model. An electric winch can be had for cheap money, they are pulling 30 stone max not the 2 tons or more for a vehicle winch.

Understaffed care homes often use the 'insurance' argument - "once they out of our door, were not insured" to avoid giving assistance to the driver.

To Others

Anyone with a justified complaint against the driver can and should make contact with their local 'hackney office' :

- each car has a DVLC number plate
- each car has a local 'hackney office' vehicle plate
- each driver has a local 'hackney office' PH or hackney or dual badge

Every driver in the nation is required by law to ensure his badge 'prominently displayed' and 'at all times' and to give, when asked, his number to a passenger. Don't waste time and effort with the DDA and other uselessly slow processes, if you have a justified complaint about a driver or the vehicle ring your local number 'hackney office' and the wheels begin turning within hours. Usually the driver is pre-in interviewed within days and will appear before the full transport committee within a fortnight. If the accusation is severe enough his/her badge will be suspended immediately pending the outcome of the full committee hearing.

The driver's capacity to earn a living is immediately stopped, drivers are understandably terrified of their local Public Protection Department,. Please make sure you complain to the driver for redress before elevating to the PPD. Your complaint can completely stop a drivers capacity to feed his kids and pay his bills - make sure your complaint is reasonable and that you have first tried to resolve it with the driver or the drivers cab company.

GlasweJen

Problem is my dads not insured to carry half the people who call him, the vehicle is wheelchair accessible for me - dads just a regular private hire driver with a private hire plate. He is allowed to carry 4 or 3 plus wheelchair but he isn't a hack driver.

What people do is call up, ask for my dad/wheelchair vehicle without assistance and then when he arrives kick off when he doesn't offer any. He is quite happy to clamp in/help a bit with an incline but some of the jobs he's been given are "should really call an ambulance" style care homes taking people to hospital.

ukmaggie45

lemontart wrote: »

I know I am going to face some hefty costs running into at least 3k to alter house if my abilty to get up stairs gets any worse as already crawling up to bathroom

If you need to alter your house due to disability you should be able to get the building work (eg installing downstairs bathroom, ramps, widening doorways for wheelchair access) done VAT free. Look on HMC pages about VAT for full details. I wish I'd know that 3 years ago when we had house renovated and installed downstairs shower room with wash basin and loo. We do get a reduction in Council Tax though (I am on DLA high rate mobility and low rate care).

Hope that you make some improvement though, so don't need to do alterations!

Brassedoff

Look, I grew up in the city that makes the black cab. I had shares in a firm with 140 cabs for a few years and during that time got to know the industry quite well.

As far as the licensing authority in the three areas we operated the FX4's could not charge extra, when the system the firm used was on a call system, the driver would quite often not call for a wheelchair job. The firm in the mid 90's went to the automated plotting system and the drivers had no choice.

The firm never sent a private hire to any job for a wheelchair if the customer pointed out they were wheelchair users and needed an FX4. Quite often they didn't. This created a problem when a private hire driver got there. They were reserved for the FX4's, which are now the TX1 and TX2. I have spoken to an ex partner and he tell's me the regulations are even tighter and (what most call the London taxi, but will always be a Carbody's Coventry cab where they were invented and are made) if a driver failed to collect a wheelchair fair, they can lose their badge and rank place.

Finally for the avoidance of doubt, the fair in a TX2 was always and still is more expensive that a private hire. This is based on one is on a rate per mile, the other was on meter.

dig13inrubble

One cost which never seems to be mentioned is time. My son is quite often refused by Hackney cab drivers at ranks even though he assures them he always uses a black cab. He mostly now books one particular driver who owns his own cab and is prepared to wait until he is available to avoid the upset of being refused by a line of ranked up cabs. He has made formal complaints on several occasions but the complaints body never get back to him so he doesn't know if they take action. He was born with his disability and has used a power chair for over 20 years and has good spatial skills.

mazza111

Surprised no one's mentioned the OT.

It is however, a postcode lottery in what help that they provide.

My daughter got quite a few handy gadgets, and they also arranged for her to get her wheelchair on the NHS. They also arranged for her to have an assessment for a power chair as she had gone downhill so rapidly (although in the end it wasn't needed.) They were going to make some adaptations to her council flat too, but her flat wasn't suitable for someone on crutches and couldn't be adapted for her wheelchair, so they assisted her in obtaining a 2 bedroom flat that was built with all the adaptations already done, just had to get a shower chair, which they provided.

My mother, who lives in the other end of the borough, got no help with gadgets at all, but they did put a wet room in for her when it was needed, didn't need to wait either. So dunno which would be better, getting major adaptations when needed, or bits and bobs to help and have to wait a while for the adaptations.


But if it's someone new to disability, they may have some ideas that you may not have thought of, even if they don't provide it, they could give you ideas of what you may need.

nannytone_2

ive never even seen an OT.
my old scial worker ( who retired at vmas) was fantastic though. he was forever popping round with things he thought might be useful.
my new social worker seems to be a waste of space, but i think that ids more to do with re organisation.
we used to have 3 areas working together with a specialist sensory impairment team. now we have small areas with an unspecialised social worker for each area.
it probably isnt her fault, but she has no idea of the issues i have and is the docial worker for the elderly couple across the road and for the supported housing next door which caters for people with learning disabilities, whereas before we all had our own dedicated teams.
jack of all trades and master of none.....

mazza111

Well we can only speak from experience, my dd's OT was ace with her in all honesty. I've seen the good and the bad, but she's never seen a social worker