Council prescribed vouchers will help residents
Monday September 5, 2011
Disabled residents and people with limited mobility in Hammersmith & Fulham are being offered a new and easier way of getting equipment that will help in their daily lives.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Inner North West London NHS recently changed the way residents receive ‘aids to daily living’ – also known as adaptations or modified items – that help residents retain their independence.
Residents will be given a prescription for items under £30, which can be bought at seven local pharmacies across the borough, or use as a ‘top-up’ voucher towards items that are not ‘standard issue’ or larger items that cost more. This could include smaller items such as adapted cutlery, a magnifying glass, electric tin opener or a shower stool, and prescriptions can also be used for installing minor adaptations such as stair-rails.
In the current set-up, residents are loaned items from the council or the NHS following an assessment by a nurse, physiotherapist , occupational therapist or other skilled social care worker. The NHS or council then orders necessary equipment for the resident which is then loaned out to them.
However, the new system gives residents more freedom and choice in deciding which items they receive, the type of model and how they get them. They will still be assessed as before, but the resident – or their carer, friend or family member – will be able to immediately order items using the prescription, deciding the collection date and time. Residents will no longer be limited to buying items from a set list and can opt for different brands or models of equipment if they want.
Councillor Joe Carlebach, cabinet member for community care, said: “For too long, the choice about what equipment to give out has sat with health and social care assessors, limiting choice and control for the resident. I am proud that we are putting residents first, placing control back in their hands – that is where it should rest because they are the real experts when it comes to their own lives.”
The new guidelines, set out by the Department of Health, also allow people to ‘try before they buy’, keeping the equipment on a short-term basis before deciding whether to keep it permanently or buy another model of the item.
Equipment handed out by hospitals, such as crutches, will continue to be offered and loaned direct from the hospital service and will not need a prescription.
For more information, visit www.lbhf.gov.uk/aidstodailyliving or call: 0845 313 3935.
