Aids and adaptations

Poplar HARCA is committed to helping older and disabled people to remain independent in their homes for as long as possible and to assist relatives and carers to care for them with dignity.

Many tenants struggle with normal daily living activities such as climbing steps or stairs, getting in out of a bath and turning taps. Our technical staff work with occupational therapists to assess your needs and to provide adaptations to your homes to make life easier.

We want to:

- encourage our staff to find ways of identifying and addressing residents who may require additional help;

- make sure that our policies and procedures are freely available to you so that you know what to do;

- work with occupational therapists to asses your needs for minor adaptations and

- assist you in applying for a grant for major works recommended by occupational therapists and ensure these works are carried out to a high standard.

What we promise to do for you

Minor work, such as grab rails, lever taps and stair rails

We will:

- set aside a yearly sum of money to provide minor adaptations;

- carry out all emergency installations with 24 hours of being told that you need works, which would usually be where someone is being discharged from hospital and needs these for safety reasons;

- carry out all urgent installations within 3 days of being told, which would be for most standard minor items such as grab rails and stair rails;

- carry out non urgent installations within 28 days and

- write to you in the case of specialist equipment being needed, to inform you of the expected delivery time for this equipment

Major work (funded by Disabled Facilities Grant)

We will:

- make an appointment with you for one of our staff, and an occupational therapist if required, to visit you within 14 days of being told that you need works;

- provide a specification and submit a grant application on your behalf within 20 working days from the date of inspection;

- complete all major works such as stair lifts, ramps and bathroom alterations within eight weeks of approval of grant funding; and

- keep any works installed by us in good repair and, in the case of stair lifts, through floor lifts and hoists, will service every 6 months.

Properties being refurbished

We will:

- make sure that all residents undergoing major refurbishment works are given the opportunities to have incorporated any specialist requirements that they may need due to disability;

- arrange for an occupational therapist to carry out a home assessment within 15 working days from when we made the referral;

- notify you within seven days of the outcome of the assessment of any equipment required from the referral;

- complete all grant applications on your behalf for any additional funding required to fulfil the occupational therapists recommendations; and

- keep you informed during the completion of the works.