Through the floor lifts

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Today I have left a message with the SW to ring me back regarding mobility changes and I have rung a lift supplier and they are coming on Thursday pm to advise whether we could fit one in. I will let you know how it goes.
Also, in the two hours I had my crossroads sitter this morning I went to the Red Cross Depot and have purchased a clip on top which raises the height of the toilet. I have fitted this to our downstais loo and whenI took him after lunch it did seem easier for him so fingers crossed this will help.
Tre
 

stanleypj

Registered User
Dec 8, 2011
10,712
0
North West
Yes, it's good to get on and do stuff like this, isn't it? Anything which might make life a teeny bit easier is worth a try.
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Chap came today regarding possibility of lift. Both places I'd hoped it would go are not possible because doorways must not be obstructed even temporarily as this would not comply with building regs. This left coming up in the most inconvenient corner of our bedroom which would mean doing away with the fitted wardrobes and where would I put all that stuff.
However, it is possible to fit the lift from the corner of our dining room downstairs which would exit in the corner of the second bedroom upstairs. Although, this does mean I would need to rearrange furniture and maybe replace the dining room table it does look workable and it would take away the scary moments on the stairs.
Now waiting for the plans and price and also the second estimate from the rival company next Thursday.
I must admit that I feel quite buoyed up that this might be a solution, but I haven't seen the cost yet.
Tre
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
Hope it works out tre. I can tell you from experience how much difference it makes once the fear is gone and your heart stays in your chest!
 

Pete R

Registered User
Jul 26, 2014
2,036
0
Staffs
I have just read through this thread and have nothing but admiration & the deepest respect for all of you that are working so hard at keeping your loved one at home as long as possible.

I had to admit defeat with my Mom last year and put her in a home and I am a fairly fit bloke in his 50's and Mom never weighed more than 8 stone so I doff my virtual cap to you all.:)

Mom, although only just about accepting that she needed help, insisted on always being able to go upstairs to bed. At first she was able to use the stair lift (on a short, straight run Cost £1300 in 2011) but latterly transfers were getting difficult and I also had to operate it for her via remote control.

In the bedroom Mom had a very small ensuite (less than 6' x 3')with a step in shower & a sink. This I had converted into a wet room (cost £2500) and also managed to squeeze in a toilet with enough room for a commode wheel chair to get in.

One of the fitters who came out was in a similar situation with his Dad looking after his Mom however she needed to be hoisted. I highlight this point as it is something you all may have to consider in the future.:( Being upstairs 2 hoists will be needed as you will need one downstairs as well, and in the case of the fitter his Mom's bedroom was too small to accommodate one.

The only solution was for his Mom to accept living downstairs and he converted the downstairs toilet into a wet room. It was small at only 4'x3' but kept the toilet and fitted a shower over it. He said that his Dad's workload dropped significantly with the problem of getting up & down the stairs now gone and his own sleep improved giving him more energy. Although it had not happened it would also have been better if his Dad ever had to go into hospital and a live in carer/relative was need during that time.

We discussed how this could be achieved in Mom's house when the time came. The access to the downstairs loo was difficult for a wheelchair but he said that it would not be difficult to fit a similar size wet room (4'x3') with toilet either in the lounge (a chair would have to go) or in the kitchen (the dining table would have to smaller).

Sorry for the ramble but with the cost of that lift, how much use it might be in the future and the space needed for a wet room not much more I just thought I would offer an alternative.:)
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Yes Pete you are right. I am sure that we will get to the point of needing a hoist or even two as I have to accept the mobility issue will get worse as time goes on. With regard to cost you are also probably right that it would be comparable to installing a downstairs wet room but only if this does not mean extending the house.
The lift dimensions are 1265mm X 920mm which I think would be too small for a wet room. The corner we are looking at is in front of a window both downstairs in the dining area and upstairs in the bedroom. This is not an issue with the lift as once I have got David downstairs in the morning I would send it back upstairs during the day into the spare bedroom, but any wetroom in that space would make our downstairs very dark as we have an L shaped lounge diner and most of the light comes in from the south facing dining room windows. There really is nowhere downstairs where we have space for a wetroom- even more so as we would also have to find room down there for David's hospital bed and my single. I think with all that downstairs I would struggle to have enough room to move the wheelchair through. We would be all crammed in downstairs and the upstairs would be unusable space for David.
Regarding a hoist if neccessary I am hoping we will not have to pay for this but will get it on loan from the LA like the hospital bed, pressure mattress, perching stool, pressure cushions, commode and folding wheelchair. Goodness- until I listed it like that I did not realise how much stuff they have loaned us. They have also put in extra handrails on the stairs and grab handles in the bathroom and downstairs loo.
As I said they are being a bit coy on the price at present so I'll just have to wait and see.
Tre
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
Don't know about your council tre but ,and I stress this is my experience, if a hoist is over £1000 they won't pay for it. We have one ceiling track hoist which covers the living room. It wasn't actually much over£1000 but rules is rules. But they do provide the slings????? Here that is how it works for equipment.
There are of course various mobile hoists but for us they weren't a good choice because my husband is heavy and I have arthritis. They also take a lot of room to manoeuvre, which we don't have.

It's so much to think about but my advice would be think ahead to as bad as it may get and look at all the possibilities. We got the hoist before it was needed daily but now without it my husband would be in a home

You are talking to your ot so if I were you I would get clear in your mind how much money you have, how you want to live and your own personal health and safety.Which at the end of the day is the most important. Without you where would he be?
 
Last edited:

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
This is very sensible advice. I am trying to talk to someone. As far as I am aware our case is currently open with a SW and I left a message for her on Tuesday to get in touch regarding mobility issues. So far no response.
I am told I can request another OT assessment via our GP but was hoping to run all of this past the SW. I guess I will have to chase it but I know the SW is very busy and I don't want to harrass her.
Tre
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
decided to chase SW this pm and risk being thought of as difficult. Just as well I did as she is off on two weeks leave after today. When I talked to her last on 08 June she said she was snowed under but we were next to be looked and and hoped it would be tomorrow. Seems that has not happened as she has been pressured by hospital discharges etc and now nothing will happen until she gets back. I feel desperate about this. When David was assessed in Nov 2014 I was told I needed a carers assessment and it was promised someone would be in touch the next week.I heard nothing and when I eveentually chased it in Feb 2015 was told it had been closed off in error when David's case closed. Eventually I got an assessment in March and was told an extra day at daycare would be recommended. David had his daycare review in May and nothing had happened so the daycare got a SW to attend. This is the one who said person who did my assessment, who they sent, was not a commisioning social worker so the recommendation had to go to this Sw who was a commisioning SW to progress. Turns out talking to her today it seems to have been put on the back burner as they thought they would need to do another assessment with the correct grade of SW. Today she now thinks it can be progressed without another assessment so I should expect to hear something in two and a half weeks or so. A flock of pigs just flew past.
On the plus side I asked about talking to an OT about the lift and was told that they were really short of OTs and the waiting time for referral was at least six weeks. I explained about the lift and she said she would see if she could find out anything and callback.
She did callback. She said if I wanted any help with funding I had to ask the LA for a Financial Assessment regarding income. If this is successful then you are passed on to Serco Housing Solutions for assessment re the lift and their current waiting list is over three months so realistically I am looking at six months before they decide. I do not think we have six months before David and I are in a broken heap at the bottom of the stairs so I shall not bother to wait to be turned down for funding but press ahead.
The plus thing was that she did find someone who knew about lifts who said both companies I have approached are reputable. The big plus was that she told me there is another company here in Herts around 45 mins drive away who have a showroom where you can try out these products. I have been in touch with them and we are going Monday pm. They can quote to supply the lifts too. It will be really useful to try before we decide so it was really good the SW told me about them
Tre
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
I'm glad something good came from the morass of excuses from the ss tre. Good that you can try the lift, I would be concerned about your husbands reaction if you couldn't try it first.
If I were you I would still speak to your gp to see if they can refer you to the community ot. Maybe faster.
We went through the financial assessment procedure, only to be turned down, but I have to say it was quite quick.
Look forward to hearing how it goes with the lift.
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Well they had both the possible lifts set up to try. David tried both and it went really well. On the plus side they are both much quieter than I imagined. The only bit that made an appreciable noise was the electronic door but I had already decided the manual door would suit us better as it is around £50 cheaper, less to go wrong and David is beyond the stage of operating it unattended. So the manual door and just the control pads outside on the wall both upstairs and downstairs seems our best opttion. As regards the two lifts there is very little difference but it seems if there is a problem one company is very helpful whereas the other ones attitude is "what have you done wrong to cause this". This seems useful info. As the place we went to today supplies both unless the one where he says the customer service is great is mega bucks more costly than the other I feel inclined to believe this.
Having actually seen the things for real I also have a better idea of how much space is needed. The downstairs dining room space I think I can make with little effort. Upstairs is a bit more tricky but doable I think and there definitely will still be room for our double bed which is reasonably new to remain in the room as well.
All in all I feel quite hopeful that this solution may work.
Bemused, with regard to what you said about hoists and the La having a ceiling of £1,000 for equipment, the SW, in just a general discussion not relating to any particular item, said their ceiling was £500. I was a bit surprised at this as I am sure the profiling bed and pressure mattress must have exceeded that but that was ordered via the District Nurse and integrated health team so maybe their remitt is different.
Tre
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,077
0
Bury
" Upstairs is a bit more tricky but doable I think and there definitely will still be room for our double bed which is reasonably new to remain in the room as well."

Measure out the footprint of the lift and put chairs or something with some height in the corners with string tied between them to see the actual impact on moving around the room.
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
Beds and mattresses are NHS and hoists are social services I think Tre. Although who knows? Not even them I think sometimes. That was the only contact we had with ss because we are self funding and they really don't,'T like wasting their time on the likes of us!

£500 seems very low though, it will cover small things but not a lot to be fair.
Anyway, glad the lift was positive, at least that's a starting point
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
thanks Nitram for your tip. You are probably right Bemused about some things being NHS and others presumably social care. The dividing line between these two is a great bugbear when dealing with dementia of which I certainly was unaware until we started on this journey
Tre
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,077
0
Bury
"The dividing line between these two is a great bugbear"

The dividing line I determined was:-

Beds, mattresses,... - nursing therefore DN
Perching stools, walkers,... - mobility aids therefore OT or maybe SW

<And if lucky the two will actually talk to each other!!!>
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
"The dividing line between these two is a great bugbear"

The dividing line I determined was:-

Beds, mattresses,... - nursing therefore DN
Perching stools, walkers,... - mobility aids therefore OT or maybe SW

<And if lucky the two will actually talk to each other!!!>

But only if there is no way out of it.
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Well today the second firm came to do their quote. I was quite impressed. He says I will have the quote later this week. The first quote has just arrived by email at £9,281 excluding VAT but I think we shall be exempted from this. Once I have the other quote I want to make a quick decision as they are both saying 6 to 8 weeks from the point of order and if we are going to do this then the sooner the better.
Tre
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
Quote from second chap arrived by email on Friday. He thinks the best place for it is the corner of the dining room as before. He seemed very thorough, and although the lifts are much of a muchness he pointed out that the upstairs radiator will need moving along and replacing with a smaller double and also that the downstairs light fitting is where the lift needs to be sited and will have to be moved. He has included all of this in the quote. I had pretty well decided to go with his company even if it was a bit dearer but it turns out it is a bit cheaper. I cannot access the money I need to proceed with the order until Wednesday but then I will put in the order so it should be all up and running by the end of August with luck.
We just need to keep safe on the stairs until then
Tre
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
I'm glad you found a thorough and honest person Tre.
Take care for the next couple of months
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
We have one week away on holiday at Adnams-on-sea ( Southwold) in a bungalow next month so that is at least one stair free week. David had a really difficult day on Friday where he was very tired all day and struggled to manage two steps to a friend's house but then when I got him home, really dreading how he would be on the stairs, he went up really well. No two days are the same which is OK when you have a bad day followed by an improvement but stressful whatever. It will be such a relief to not have the worry of the ascents and descents of the stairs.
I am going to try to keep him out of the wheelchair in the house as much as possible even when we have the lift. It has a fold up seat in it which he can use to start with. I am keen to preserve his remaining mobility but take out the risk on the stairs.
Tre
 

Forum statistics

Threads
138,144
Messages
1,993,312
Members
89,798
Latest member
JL513