'Home help' was unhelpful

As an occupational therapist, I read with interest the article "Home help" (30 April, page 28). The article talks about mixed messages and ambiguous terminology but itself makes some fundamental errors.

Assistive technologies, equipment or aids to independence, as they were historically known, are available from the joint equipment stores funded by health and local authorities. Whether they are free to tenants depends on whether they have been referred through the health authority, which would be a service provided free at point of delivery, or through the local authority, where a charge can be levied, and often is.

Minor adaptations are not free up to £1000 and each individual authority sets its own threshold for supplying these. There appears to be a postcode lottery to this provision, whereby some will only do works up to £300 and others up to £1000. There is no set figure laid down by the ODPM.

The confusion came in recent discharge legislation, which indicated that minor works up to £1000 should be completed within a set time frame to facilitate timely discharges. The ODPM did increase its funding of disabled facilities grants but it's difficult to ascertain whether this is enough because of the poor information being collected on need.

Adaptations or structural changes to the fabric of the building, which also usually include stairlifts and vertical lifts, are usually funded via a disabled facilities grant. These are mandatory grants available to all, regardless of tenure, but are often fraught with long waiting times at point of assessment and allocation of monies.

Smart technologies or equipment that has historically not been used is a grey area as the joint equipment stores have not decided what will be provided, if anything.

The whole service of provision of equipment and adaptations is confusing for those who work with it daily, just think how complicated it must appear to tenants.