The Day the Toilet Checkers came to Call!

Sorry Rhys pinching you term there!
We had a visit from the Social Services OTs this week. We need them to check out the work done to say it meets the assessed need so that we can get the rest of the grant money out of the council!

Well not sure how it can meet assessed need when no actual assessment was ever done but hey we will agree to anything that will allow them to give us the money!

So along they came Kim and Aggie! lol

Lots of explanations needed as the assistant was new to the case. We'll Call her Aggie!
Kim was showing her what was and what is whilst we tried to hide what is to come!

Then into the house and in to Jonathan's room. Look around...but please dont touch the door the paint is wet! (the sliding door gear has jammed too and we dont want you to discover that in case it means need isnt met!)
Then through to Rosie and Eve's bedroom just so Kim can Show Aggie how much mess can accumulate in one room....or maybe it was to show the wonderful overhead hoist we have not yet been able to use due to first not being able to get Eve into the room, then Eve not being able to breath in the sling , then Only having one workable sling that is needed in the bath!
I asked if I should send Eves chair up in the lift as Eve was doing her best "I am fragile please dont move me I am happy where I am " look. It was necessary to demonstrate the chair went in the lift and through to the bathroom.
Now upstairs is still not finished..it isnt part of what the grant is allocated for so isnt needing to be finished for us to get the grant. However I do wish Joshua understood that please leave you bedroom tidy actually meant. As I led the way up the stairs across the new landing towards Joshua's room I was horrified! There were chinchilla droppings around the cage...mixed with food that had missed their dish when he fed them. There were 3 odd Trainers in the middle of his room and sawdust and other debris all over the carpet.....Joshua does not have a door to his room...actually Joshua does not have an end wall on his bedroom. In fact at the moment it would appear to anyone no in the know that Joshua sleeps in the passage way!

Thankfully Kim has teenagers so was not actually phased at all!

I explained that we were waiting until we had the opportunity to trial a larger size wheelchair through the space to decide exactly how much space we could incorporate in Joshua's room!
Bearing in mind that Kim had wanted to remove the little bit of extra space we had tried to create on the plans by having a dog leg out of his room to put the door away from any internal walls, I was shocked to hear her suggesting that we did not need to worry about the wheelchair space because if we sent the lift back down we could get across the top of the lift without worrying about Joshua's room wall! Just goes to show Common sense can prevail!

Anyway it was agreed the bathroom and through floor lift met the needs for the girls! and so we headed down again...on the way pointing out that the middle room that SS had been adamant was not necessary, would inevitably now end up being Eve's room. Kim explained to Aggie that it would be a case of reassessing Eve's needs when we decided that was necesary and then they would arrange for anything she needed to be put in place in that room! I had to pinch myself at that point!

Then back down to Eve who was by now grizzling at being left out of the festivities, so i demonstrated my practised one arm roll and lift and hooked her from bean bag to my lap! At this point Kim and Aggie decided that it would be necessary to look at hoisting options for this room! I expressed horror at the thought of a mobile hoist! Far too dnagerous for Rosie! she has lots of Seizures that cause her to fall unexpectedly and has split her eye on a mobile hoist in the past! Kim expressed her view that a mobile hoist would be impossible for me to manage anyway! So it looks as though once we are ready to discuss it then the ceiling hoist that will meet our need
will be provided! And without me even having to express a concern!

Then almost as if it was necessary to rememmber that we have to disagree for this to be a proper toilet checkers appointment! Kim dropped her bombshell!
Yes she was happy to go back to The Council Officer and say she has inspected and need is met apart from.....
In the recomendation was a Closimat type toilet for Jonathan! We have not put in a Closimat.

Hackles rising I pointed out that the closimat was suggested in response to my insistance that a wet room ensuite for Jonathan was essential for him to have uninhibited access to his toilet and shower facilities to enable us to ensure he was kept clean. He needed a shower to ensure his toileting needs were met!
Kim had said a Closimat Toilet would meet that need!
However on their plans this had been placed in the bathroom that was supposed to be used for the girls too so still did not give him his uninhibited access!
She was telling us that it was not up to her to interpret that but up to His Nibs in the Council to interpret whether we had met need!

Now I know that he is going to say she has to say if need is met and she will say the recomendation says Closimat type toilet and he will say well you havent put in a closimat so we will withold xxx amount of the grant until you do.,......meanwhile Jonathan is scared to death of the Closimat type toilet and the shower washes all of him not just his backside and he enjoys a shower rather than running away from it!

So the toilet checkers checked the toilet and didnt like it!

SIGH!

However Kim and Aggie left in good humour and we were fairly impresse with the future they promise with regard to meeting Eve's need. and both Rosie and Jonathan move now to a different service.
The report will not go to Council man for several weeks due to holiday and study leave and probably caseloads pressing...we may get the rest of the grant at some point! Meanwhile we will battle on to finish the rest!....