House improvement grant

Dodger

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I was considering applying for above grant.Spoke to my GP who was not very understanding to my situation. Basically I am on an occupational injuries pension and had to give up work due to my injuries.Now my activity is restricted, movement etc resulting in severe pain.Doctor tells me there are other people more entitled to apply in a worse position then myself on a waiting lists and they cannot get money from council and he would not sign application for me. Do I need my Gp to sign this form or can I get an occupational therapist from HSE to look at me or go back to a consultant.If anyone has found themselves in a similar situation there advice would be appreciated.
 
My goodness you need to change GP if you can. If you're in severe pain than it's obvious you need help. The fact the budget is restricted is neither here nor there and is no reason for your GP to be the judge of who is or is not deserving. It's very condescening of your pain and situation. It is up to the HSE to decide the merits of your case not your GP.
 
Thank you for your kind replies. I got forms from the local county council,a section of it has to be filled in by my GP with form filled in fully and correctly.however a payment of to 200 euro is payable to OT who will make the final decision.I got in touch with council over the phone they suggested I get a stair lift.There are now three people making the decision OT,council housing officer, my GP.It is my understanding that this money is eu funded and administered by local authority.All medical evidence insists that I cannot work anymore. My intention is to build a bedroom downstairs and the grant would go with savings to build it as I can no longer get a loan from bank.
7.Checklit
Please ensure that the following documentation is included in the application for grant aide
§ Fully completed application form (HGD1);
§ Completed G.P. Medical report (HGD2);
§ Completed Tax Form (HGD3);
§ Evidence of Household Income from all sources;
§ Occupation Therapist’s report. (Unless applying only to change existing bathroom to walk-in shower);
§ 2 written, itemised quotations detailing the cost of the proposed works;
§ Evidence of compliance with Local Property Tax.
 
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I would be priority 3
General Levels of Medical Priority
Priority 1
Terminally ill or fully/mainly dependent on family or carer; or where alterations/adaptations would facilitate discharge from (potential long-term stay in) hospital or alleviate the need for (long-term or frequent) hospitalisation in the future
Priority 2
Mobile, but needs assistance in accessing washing, toilet facilities, bedroom, etc., or where without the alterations/adaptations the disabled person’s ability to function independently would be hindered
Priority 3
Independent, but requires special facilities to improve the quality of life, e.g. separate bedroom/living space
 
Why did the council suggest a stair lift? Is your house suitable. That I would consider to be an unsatisfactory solution as long term it's better for you to have a ground floor bedroom. Is there any possibility of you selling the house and moving into a bunglow, or apartment on the ground floor or with a lift.

If you're only priority 3, does that mean you'd have to wait years got get to the top of the list?
 
I have gone through this with my father, usually the first suggestion by council is a stair lift as obviously they want to go for the least costly option that works. They sent out someone who confirmed that my father's house was unsuitable (very old house, stairs very narrow and not enough clearance). Once that report was in and approved we had to move to next option which was build on downstairs.

Now his mobility was not great at the time and now 10yrs later the downstairs facilities are essential as even if he had the stair lift it would be no good at this stage but had it worked at the time then we would have got a grant for that initially and then at a later stage when necessary have to go for the further adaptation. From your categories he would have been probably between 2 & 3 at the time, more towards 3 but was only likely to get worse mobility wise.

Funding seemed to depend entirely on the council funds, at that time anyway I was not of the opinion that it was EU funded but was coming out of the council's annual budget so it was easier get funds early in the year. We were approved around August of that year but had to wait until around Feb of following year to get the funds when they had their new allocation for that year. It took around 12mths in total from first application to getting funds. Obviously there would have been delays anyway as there was a planning process and building work to be done but no stage went as quickly as it should or could except the building bit, that was fine.
 
Thank you Monbretia,I agree that the stair lift was the least costly solution and informed council person ,why would she suggest such a thing to me when that was not my query.Like your father at present I am getting around but struggle getting around. Future to me is I will be worse and indeed have been told so.With a little money saved to go with a grant I could build downstairs for the future and the present but all this hassle is putting me off.Ps in my mothers case she was given a stair lift but when she died HSE would not take it back as they do not take returns at a complete loss to HSE or the Council.
 
You are right, there is a bit of hassle involved but you may as well start the ball rolling. I dealt with all of it for my father and it was frustrating getting letters out looking for different bits instead of being asked for the lot in one go. A tax clearance cert delayed us by weeks at the time even though he was on contributory pension with no other income.

You need to just treat it as a project and not take the queries/paperwork too personally. I never approached any politician or similar at the time as I trusted in the system to process it fairly and as quickly as possible, big mistake in hindsight, I heard many stories afterwards about how a letter from someone speeded up process. Indeed my father's next door neighbour did something similar year after my father and it was all through in jig time, but she was a lot more forthright than me and would literally turn up in council offices weekly looking for update and had everybody you could think of contacted to help with it. I know it seems like urban legend stuff but seems to work!
 
Thanks to all for your comments ,I will persevere going forward and speak to my consultant and see what he thinks.
 
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