Adaptations

The assessment process

The occupational therapist (OT) will assess your clinical need. They may give advice or recommend you trial some equipment to help you with day-to-day activities before an adaptation is agreed.

The OT will provide you with a copy of their recommended adaptations to check and sign.

If the OT recommends major adaptations (building works or mechanical equipment), they will send the referral to the council housing adaptations lead to process. The adaptations lead will send the recommendation to the contractor who will then contact you. The contractor will complete a site survey visit to assess feasibility of recommended adaptations. If adaptations are feasible, the contractor will then contact you to arrange a start date for the work.

Alterations to occupational therapist recommendations

You cannot alter the recommended scheme as this has been designed to meet your needs.

The contractor will offer you a choice of specialist recommended safety floor colouring and colour border tiles.

We are unable to fit floor or wall tiles which are not council supplied. This is due to maintenance issues and safety standards.

If it's not practical or possible to adapt your home

Where we cannot meet your clinical need within your existing home, we will consider other options which may include re-housing. In exceptional cases, we may consider extending a home to meet the clinical need. This will be decided by the Housing Options Panel. The panel consists of OT managers, and representatives from housing and the Accessible Housing and Adaptations Team.

How long adaptations take to complete

When the occupational therapist (OT) carries out the assessment, they will prioritise your adaptation referral. The priority is set because of your clinical need, the more urgent the case, the higher the priority. For example, adaptations to help with terminal health care support will be classified as priority one. Similar adaptations in neighbouring homes may have different priority assessments.

Based on the OT priority rating, the timescales for completing the recommended works will be:

• Priority 1 - most urgent adaptations, where we will try to complete the work within 2 to 12 weeks (some mechanical installations may take longer)
• Priority 2 - less urgent cases, where we will try to complete the work within 4 to 6 months

Sometimes we will be unable to meet these timescales, however we will keep you updated about delays.

Extensions and complicated works will take longer than 6 months, regardless of the priority.

What to expect from contractors

We require our contractors to:

• provide you with contact details of the operatives working on your home
• identify themselves with a photo ID
• treat your home and lifestyle with respect and due care
• give you a start date, and update you if they will not be attending any days during the works. Once they have started works, they will complete them in a timely manner.

What we expect from you

• give access to the contractor to complete the works
• be present at the final check visit when our housing adaptations lead or OT attend to sign off the completed works
• complete the satisfaction survey form the contractors provide when the works are finished

What contractors expect from you

Contractors require you to:

• keep appointments and provide access to allow them to carry out their work
• not smoke inside your home while the operatives are there
• move fragile and important items
• keep pets away
• not enter the work area yourself, unless the contractor says it is safe to do so

What to do if your needs change

If your needs change whilst you have an allocated occupational therapist, you should contact them.

If you live in Enfield, you can either fill in a referral form, email adultsocialcare@enfield.gov.uk or call 020 8379 1001.

For more information, visit MyLife Enfield.

If you’re an Enfield Council tenant who lives in Hertfordshire, visit Hertfordshire Council.