Disabled persons advice/help please

Eagle_1

Hi, I wasn't sure where to post this so apologies if it should be some where else.

My Father is wheelchair dependent and has lived on his own since april when my mother passed away. He lives in a bungalow which was fine when my Mam was around to help but now being on his own many things have become increasingly difficult. The major concern is his kitchen, it really does need serious and urgent updating. Simple tasks like him making meals are quite difficult for him because obviously the worktops are too high. He has problems using the cooker because when he takes things out of the oven there is no work surface near to his wheelchair..so you kinda get my drift.

Anyways Social Services became involved (at our request) to get his kitchen adapted so it is suitable for a wheelchair and they agreed it was very urgent and needed doing sooner than later. The council came out with Social Services and planned the kitchen, they went away saying Dad would receive a letter. He received the letter 12 weeks ago, the letter said he was priority 1 and work should be expected within 12 weeks. Because nobody has been in contact with my Dad he called the council and Social Services up only to be informed that they have run out of money and he will not be getting this necessary work done. They cannot give any indication of the time limit.

So id be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction. Who should I contact ? Can they do this or do they need to get funding from some where else ?

I am quite annoyed over this and I really would like it sorted sooner than later.

Thanks.

Eagle_1

anyone ? its just im worried he's gonna have an accident in the kitchen, specially whilst he is using the frying pan or the deep fat fryer.

Thanks.

Fran

This sounds like something for his MP. They are quite good at getting things moving.

Is he getting Disability Living Allowance (if under 65) or Attendance Allowance (if over 65)? It might be something that has been overlooked but he could be entitled to. It's not dependant on income but is for the extra costs of disability.

Savvy_Sue

Eagle_1 wrote:

anyone ? its just im worried he's gonna have an accident in the kitchen, specially whilst he is using the frying pan or the deep fat fryer.

Thanks.

Any chance you could persuade him NOT to use the deep fat fryer? Even after the kitchen's been converted, even when people are in good health and fully mobile, these are responsible for lots of accidents!

OK, probably not ... why change the habits of a lifetime ...

MrsMW

As a temporary measure could you get him one of those kitchen trolleys so he has a mobile worktop. I think they are quite cheap at Argos or Ikea.
Hope he gets a new kitchen soon.

margaretclare

Why does he need a deep-fat fryer if he's on his own?

It's easy to make one potato into chips and fry them in olive oil in an ordinary frying-pan.

Aunty Margaret

Ted_Hutchinson

Eagle_1 wrote:

...........SNIP...........
So id be grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction. Who should I contact ?

Contact your Councillors, MP, MEPs, MSPs, orWelsh and London Assembly Members for free.

Can they do this or do they need to get funding from some where else ?

Yes the National Government only provides so much money for Disabled Facilities Grants and lots of people need the adaptations and many are very expensive so the money gets used up pretty soon after each allocation. In some local authorities there is a waiting list and the budget is almost all fully allocated as soon as the money is credited to their accounts.

I am quite annoyed over this and I really would like it sorted sooner than later.

Unfortunately some disabled people are really quite selfish and because the money for DFG's doesn't usually have to be paid back it's been known for people to have their property adapted and then decide to move, knowing they can repeat the process at the new place. I also think some people have work done because it's free and because they don't have to pay they don't care if they don't need it and don't even intend to use it.
In many cases the actual cost of the work done on a DFG is far higher than if you contracted to do the same work yourselves. This is because the LA only use specificied approved contractors and always use an architect to supervise the work. As the contractors know their work will be checked and their will almost inevitably be delays before payment they put in higher estimates than you would get if you asked for the same work to be done.
Because only a few businesses are on the list they can put in silly overpriced estimates, subcontract the work to cheaper outfits and still make a profit. This means you could have work done on your property but have absolutely no control over the quality of the end product but still have to make a sizeable contribution to the cost. I heard of one chap who waited for ages for a stair lift to be put in so he could get to the upstairs loo on his own only to find the time between knowing he needed to go and the shortest time he could get to the stair lift ascend the stairs and get to the loo wasn't sufficient to resolve the problem. What he needed was a downstairs loo and so despite all the money spent on his behalf he was moving house.
This is why it's sometimes better to find out what actually needs doing according to the occupational therapist, and then get the most important jobs done yourself using people whose work you can trust.

Eagle_1

Ok, thank you for the replies. Rather than answer them individually I will do them all now.

I thought about contacting local MP and I think he will be next port of call. I have spoken to someone high up in the council today and he is going to look at the case for me. He is going to ring me back sometime this week so if I do not get any joy then yes I think MP will be a good idea.

Re the fryer, what you have to understand is he is a fella who is used to Fridays as chip night and to suddenly not have chips on Friday is a huge change. My Dad is in his 70's and its a tradition since when I was a kid to have chips on a Friday. He bought one of them little fryers, enough for a small portion of chips. He has problems using his oven so cant have oven chips. Its hard for me to explain but because his kitchen is so small with units on both sides he cant actually turn his wheelchair around. So he finds it difficult taking things out of the oven and then getting them onto a workbench.
The idea about a kitchen trolley is a good idea, but again because his kitchen is so small we would not be able to get one in there because he would never be able to get past it in his chair. His kitchen as it stands will only allow him to go forwards or backwards in his chair and the cupboards, washer etc are almost touching his wheelchair.
Why does he need a fryer and not fry chips, well using a frying pan is more dangerous for him than a fryer. He has not had to cook meals for such a long time so with frying stuff id be more worried that he'd end up having a fire. With a deep fat fryer the heat gets to a certain temperature and thats it, whereas all it would take is for him to forget the frying pan was on and it could be dangerous (chips fried in a frying pan would take a lot longer than frying an egg or sausage)

I understand many people try to get things which they dont need or to get things done then move but in this case again look at the situation as a whole (thats what ive said to people involved). My Dad wouldnt want to move, he has friendly neighbours who would look out for him, he knows that if his curtains were not opened then people would realise something was up the first day if something had happened during the night. He has neighbours who will see if he needs anything at the shops so you see he is settled where he is. My mother died at home so my Dad would never leave the bungalow, he would see it as leaving my Mam and moving is not an option at all (ive also told the council this).
We have had the occupational therapist out and she agrees he needs it doing as a priority. The planner has been out with her and we sat down and designed his kitchen so he would be able to live independently at home. They know that this is not a case of trying to get something done for nothing, this work is a nececitiy (sp) for my Dad so he can at least have a bit more independence at home.
Its not what you know but who you know, always has been and always will be.

I have told the council today that I am not going to sit here quietly taking what they have told me. They told me that it will be sometime in the next financial year, as I said to them "sorry but I refuse to accept that" the new financial year being next April and even then it probably wouldnt be the april because April would probably be when they start looking for contractors.

Thanks again for your help/advice, it helped just getting that bit I wrote out of my system.

Much appreciated.

Ted_Hutchinson

It might be worth finding out how much your local authority was allocated at the start of the year from the list here.
Local Authority Disabled Facilities Grant allocations for 2004/05 (Word 182 Kb)
and bear in mind the maximum that can be awarded is £25,000

My local authority gets £317,000 so if 13 people asked for the maximum grant in one year that would be it for the others. I don't know how much a kitchen refit would be for disability needs but for a normal kitchen refit by professionals you would have to start the budget at over £3000 so it's bound to be more than this and he may also need the bathroom adapted as well as other things. I'm not trying to put you off pushing as hard as necessary for your father, he obviously has genuine needs and it's better he has his house adapted than go into a home. So I'm with you all the way on getting on with the job. I just want you to understand that the LA may be genuine in saying that this years money has been spent already.
(though I bet there is an emergency stash somewhere that could be called upon to avoid media publicity, why not try the local press? if all else fails.)

Eagle_1

Thanks again.

Yeah it might make good reading, seeing as I am in Mr Blairs constituency

I am hoping after todays chat with the council it wont come to that, I really dont fancy a long dragged out fight. His bathroom is already adapted for a wheelchair so thats not a problem.

Cheers

Ted_Hutchinson

Looks like Sedgefield got £185,000 about enough for 7 full grants or 35 £5000 jobs. Not a big deal for a place with the problems Sedgefield has got.