Occupational Therapy - About the service

Introduction
Many people at some time in their life may experience disability. Some people may make a full or reasonable recovery, which allows them to carry out everyday tasks with little or no problems.

For others the result of disability can have a greater impact. They may find that tasks they used to be able to do become increasingly difficult or they are no longer able to do them. For some their disability may mean they are dependent on their families and friends to help them.

For those people whose disability has a profound effect on their day to day life, Wandsworth Social Services Occupational Therapy Service may be able to assist.

Who can be seen?
We will see people of all ages who have a physical disability. For those who have mental health problems, we understand that you may also be experiencing difficulties, but your needs may be better met by another service. We suggest you contact your GP for further assistance.

We will also discuss the impact your disability has on your family, friends and carers and consider their needs. All this will be done in your home.

Our aim is to help you maintain your independence whilst considering the effects of your illness or disability. We may provide you with advice on how to carry out a particular task, or how to use equipment, which will enable you to do a day to day activity. We may feel that your needs will be better met by adapting your property or, if this is not possible, we may recommend re-housing.

We work closely with other agencies such as Social Workers, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists in the Health Service and we may feel that your needs will be better met by referring you on to their teams.

We aim to enable people to maximise their abilities and independence to improve quality of life whilst recognising race, age, gender, culture, sexual orientation and religion.

A Specialist Occupational Therapy Assessment
The Occupational Therapy staff will assess your ability to carry out everyday tasks. This will include areas such as;

1. Washing and dressing.
2. Whether you are able to get in/out of your bath, on/off your chair, in/out of your bed, or on/off your toilet.
3. Whether you can get to essential rooms in your property.

When your application is accepted
Once we receive your application and accept you for a Specialist Occupational Therapy Assessment, we will aim to complete your assessment within 28 days of the date of receipt. You will be contacted by an Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant, either by telephone or letter, to arrange a convenient time to visit you at home. We will then carry out an assessment of your needs.

The Occupational Therapy report
Your Occupational Therapy assessment report is a record of your abilities. This will include what you have told us and what we have assessed. It will give details about suggestions we have made and give the reasons for them. The assessment report will be sent to you five working days after the assessment.

Provision of equipment
We may provide items of specialist equipment, which are designed for use by people with disabilities. This will be provided on a loan basis.

Items made to benefit able bodied and disabled people alike (e.g. electric can openers and bath mats) are not provided by the Occupational Therapy Service.

Recommending adaptations
We may recommend minor adaptations to your home to help you manage daily tasks. Examples of these include grab rails or an additional stair rail. Depending on your assessed need, the Occupational Therapist may recommend more major adaptations to your home. Examples of this include concrete ramps and stairlifts.

Direct Payments
From September 2007, we are now able to offer you the choice of receiving a direct payment in order to purchase community equipment or adaptations that you have been assessed as needing, for yourself.

Follow up visits
We will need to visit you again if equipment or adaptations have been provided. We may ask you not to use the equipment or adaptations until we have carried out the follow up visit. This is to allow the Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant to show you how to use the equipment safely and correctly.

Service standards
We will treat you with courtesy and respect at all times.

We may send you a service satisfaction card to complete after we have finished working with you, to get your views on the service that was provided.

You can contact us in the future if you have further needs.

If you are not happy with the service you received, please tell us. We will try to sort out the problem. If you are still not happy after we have tried to help, Wandsworth Council has a complaints procedure. We will send you details at your request.

Annual report
You can download a copy of the Occupation Therapy Service annual report. Its purpose is to give you information about past, present and future developments.

OT Annual report (530 kb)

When we offer a Specialist Occupational Therapy Assessment

1. You must be a permanent resident of the London Borough of Wandsworth.

2. You must meet the requirement of Section 29(i) of the National Assistance Act 1948.

Your disability must come from within this extract of the Act;

i.e. you must be "substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity".

3. Your disability must be such that it significantly affects your ability to carry out your normal day to day activities in your home
Or
Your disability imposes a considerable burden on your carer/family.

Substantial means -
The extent to which your disability (caused by your medical condition) causes you to have considerable difficulties in carrying out your normal activities in your home i.e. this difficulty may be due to:

Loss of an arm/leg
Severe heart condition
Lung disorder

Permanent means -
Your disability is considered likely to last all your life and is unlikely to improve. Sometimes your condition may also get worse, or possibly be terminal.

We may not be able to offer you a Specialist Occupational Therapy Assessment:
1. If you are not substantially and permanently disabled.
2. If you have a temporary/short-term difficulty in managing your daily personal activities.
Or
Your disability is due to a mild, rather than severe, medical condition.
3. If you have been discharged from hospital following treatment to improve how you manage your activities i.e.

Joint replacement operation
Fracture of leg or arm

In this instance you may be eligible for help from the hospital.

What you can expect if we cannot offer you a Specialist Occupational Assessment
We will write to let you know if we will not be able to offer you an assessment, as not everyone who applies will be seen.

We will send you a booklet entitled "Ideas for Independent Living" which offers ideas for the private purchase of equipment and rails, as well as useful information about other community services which may be able to assist you.

If your disability or medical condition changes in the future, you can apply again to the Occupational Therapy Service for an assessment.

Useful information to meet your bathing needs
If your only difficulty is in getting in and out of the bath, you may like to look at the website compiled by the Disabled Living Foundation - www.bathingmadeeasy.com which gives a wealth of useful information on products that might assist you with personal care tasks.

Useful information about daily living tasks
You may like to look at the website compiled by the Disabled Living Foundation called Living Made easy at www.livingmadeeasy.org.uk which gives a wealth of information about products that you might find useful.

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