Home adaptation bids almost doubled

THE number of elderly households applying for home adaptations has almost doubled in Warrington, according Parliamentary election candidate Nick Bent.
In 2010-11 the number was 93 but in 2013-14 it was 161.
Yet the number of completed adaptations fell by three per cent over the same period, according to the Labour campaigner.
Mr Bent (pictured) said nationally fewer elderly and disabled people are getting essential home adaptations funded through the Disabled Facilities Grant.
This government grant enables people to stay living independently in their own homes by providing handrails, ramps, stairlifts and downstairs bathrooms, and by widening doors.
Without these vital changes, people could end up going into hospitals and care homes when they didn’t need to.
The falling number of home adaptations was contributing to a record level of delayed discharges from hospitals. The number of delayed discharges due to a lack of home adaptations has gone up 15 per cent over the last four years.
The total cost of delayed discharges is now £247 million per year – almost a quarter of a billion pounds – enough to pay for nearly 37,000 home adaptations.
Across the country, a scandalous total of 5,500 fewer older people have received vital home adaptations that help keep them out of hospitals and care homes.
Mr Bent said Warrington had suffered huge cuts to its budgets – £63 million since 2010 – or a massive £32 per person, whereas some councils in the south, like North Dorset, have seen their budgets being cut by only £2 per head.
He said: “Older people in Warrington deserve dignity in their old age. For many people this means staying in their own homes and living independently.
“The government’s cuts to council budgets are a false economy, as more older people end up going to hospital or into a care home when they don’t need to. This is terrible for them and their families and is an extremely poor use of taxpayers’ money too.”