Login

DC150-Home Adaptations and Mobility Equipment Policy

{{org_field_logo}}

{{org_field_name}}

Registration Number: {{org_field_registration_no}}

Home Adaptations and Mobility Equipment Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish a structured approach to assessing, implementing, and managing home adaptations and mobility equipment for service users within {{org_field_name}}. Ensuring that individuals can safely navigate their living spaces enhances independence, well-being, and quality of life while reducing the risk of falls, injuries, and other health complications.

This policy supports compliance with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and the requirements and guidance relevant to domiciliary care in England, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, the Care Act 2014, the Care and Support (Preventing Needs for Care and Support) Regulations 2014, the Equality Act 2010, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 where applicable, and the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 in relation to Disabled Facilities Grants.

This policy is intended to ensure that home adaptations and mobility equipment are considered, arranged, monitored and reviewed in a person-centred, safe, lawful and coordinated way, and that where responsibility is shared with landlords, local authorities, occupational therapists, community equipment services, NHS professionals, suppliers or contractors, {{org_field_name}} remains clear about its own responsibilities for safe care delivery, communication, record-keeping and escalation.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

It covers:

For the avoidance of doubt, this policy applies to the assessment, recommendation, coordination, safe use, monitoring and review of home adaptations and mobility equipment associated with the delivery of regulated domiciliary care. It does not mean that {{org_field_name}} automatically owns, prescribes, funds, installs, services or legally controls all equipment located in a person’s home. Responsibilities must be identified and recorded in each case, including where equipment belongs to the service user, landlord, local authority, NHS, community equipment service or another third party.

3. Legal and Regulatory Framework

This policy should be read alongside the following legislation, regulations and guidance, as amended from time to time:

{{org_field_name}} will monitor changes in legislation, statutory guidance and CQC guidance and will update this policy and operational procedures when required.

4. Assessment of Service User Needs

{{org_field_name}} will ensure that decisions about home adaptations and mobility equipment are based on a documented, person-centred assessment of need and risk. Assessments must take account of the person’s current abilities, desired outcomes, independence, communication needs, sensory needs, cognition, pain, moving and handling needs, continence needs where relevant, falls history, risks within the home environment, and the impact on family members or informal carers.

Where the service user may require specialist assessment, {{org_field_name}} will liaise promptly with the relevant occupational therapist, physiotherapist, GP, district nurse, community equipment service, NHS professional, local authority team, landlord or housing provider, as appropriate.

The assessment record must clearly identify:
(a) the issue or risk identified;
(b) the adaptation or equipment already in place;
(c) any additional adaptation or equipment required or recommended;
(d) who is responsible for assessment, provision, funding, installation, servicing and review;
(e) any interim risk controls while waiting for equipment or adaptation works; and
(f) the date for review or earlier reassessment if needs change.

Where the person appears to have care and support needs, or a carer appears to have support needs, {{org_field_name}} will support referral to the local authority for a Care Act assessment or carer’s assessment where appropriate.

Assessments and reviews must be completed in partnership with the service user and, where appropriate and lawful, their representative, family member, advocate or attorney/deputy.

5. Consent, Capacity and Best-Interest Decision-Making

No home adaptation, equipment use, repositioning arrangement, transfer method or change to the home environment connected with care delivery will be introduced without the valid consent of the service user unless another lawful basis applies.

Where there is doubt about a person’s capacity to make a specific decision, staff must act in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the organisation’s consent and mental capacity procedures. Capacity is decision-specific and must not be assumed to be lacking merely because the person has a diagnosis, communication difficulty, unusual presentation or makes a decision others consider unwise.

Where a person lacks capacity in relation to a specific decision about adaptation or equipment use, any action taken must be in the person’s best interests, be the least restrictive available option, and be properly recorded. Staff must identify and involve, where appropriate, attorneys, deputies, family members, advocates and relevant professionals in accordance with legal authority and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Refusal of equipment or adaptations by a person with capacity must be respected. In such cases, {{org_field_name}} must assess and document the risks, explain the consequences, consider alternative risk reduction measures, escalate where necessary, and keep the decision under review.

6. Types of Home Adaptations and Mobility Equipment

Depending on assessed need and the scope of the service, {{org_field_name}} may identify, recommend, coordinate, monitor or support the safe use of the following examples of home adaptations and mobility equipment:

The inclusion of an item in this list does not mean that {{org_field_name}} directly supplies, owns, prescribes, installs, funds or maintains that item in every case. The specific responsibilities of the service provider, service user and any third party must be recorded in the care record.

Where equipment is used by staff in the delivery of care, {{org_field_name}} will ensure staff are competent in its safe use and that any concerns about suitability, condition, servicing, misuse, incompatibility with the home environment or changes in the person’s needs are escalated without delay.

7. Funding and Financial Support Options

{{org_field_name}} may provide information and signposting to help service users access relevant funding routes, but funding decisions remain with the responsible authority or funding body.

Potential routes may include:

For clarity, “community equipment (aids and minor adaptations)” are defined in the Care and Support (Preventing Needs for Care and Support) Regulations 2014, and a minor adaptation is one costing £1,000 or less. Local authorities must not charge for provision under section 2(1) of the Care Act 2014 where that provision consists of community equipment or minor adaptations.

Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant in England is subject to the statutory maximum amount in force at the time of application. Staff must not promise grant approval, timescales or funding levels and must instead signpost the person to the relevant local authority housing or adaptations team.

8. Installation, Maintenance, and Servicing

Where {{org_field_name}} commissions, arranges or relies upon equipment or adaptations in the delivery of care, the organisation will take reasonable steps to ensure that installation, maintenance, servicing, inspection and repair arrangements are clear, documented and carried out by competent persons or organisations.

The care record must state, wherever applicable:
(a) what equipment or adaptation is in place;
(b) who owns it;
(c) who installed it;
(d) who is responsible for servicing, inspection, repair and replacement;
(e) the next due service or inspection date, where known; and
(f) what staff must do if the equipment is damaged, overdue for service, unsuitable or unsafe.

Where equipment belongs to the service user or another organisation, {{org_field_name}} will not assume formal maintenance responsibility unless agreed, but staff must still report concerns, record action taken, and escalate risks where equipment appears unsafe or unsuitable for care delivery.

Where an urgent defect creates an immediate risk, use of the equipment must stop unless and until it is confirmed safe, alternative arrangements must be considered, the service user and relevant persons must be informed, and appropriate escalation must be made to the owner, supplier, community equipment service, NHS professional, commissioner or emergency services as required.

Any arrangements delegated to contractors or third parties do not remove {{org_field_name}}’s responsibility for ensuring the safe delivery of regulated care.

9. Staff Training, Competence and Supervision

{{org_field_name}} will ensure that staff involved in the use, monitoring or escalation of home adaptations and mobility equipment are suitably trained, competent and supervised for their role. Training and competence requirements may include: moving and handling, use of specific equipment, falls prevention, risk assessment, consent, mental capacity, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, incident reporting, record-keeping and escalation procedures.

Staff must not use equipment, implement transfer techniques or support environmental adjustments unless they have received appropriate instruction, been assessed as competent where required, and understand the limitations of their role.

Competence must be reviewed through supervision, spot checks, observations, refresher training, incident analysis and audits. Where learning needs or unsafe practice are identified, the organisation must take timely action to retrain, supervise, restrict practice or otherwise protect service users and staff.

10. Safety, Risk Management and Escalation

{{org_field_name}} will assess and manage risks associated with the service user’s home environment, equipment use, transfer arrangements, access and egress, falls, fire safety implications, trip hazards, storage, infection prevention risks, manual handling risks, and any incompatibility between the person’s needs and the physical environment.

Risk assessments must be current, proportionate, person-centred and regularly reviewed. They must identify both existing controls and any further action needed, including referral for specialist assessment, temporary mitigation, changes to care delivery, environmental adjustments, equipment replacement or escalation to external agencies.

Staff must promptly report and record equipment failure, near misses, injuries, unsafe environments, refused equipment, misuse, unauthorised repairs, missing service labels, expired inspections, changes in the person’s mobility or cognition, or any situation where care can no longer be delivered safely.

Where a risk cannot be safely managed within the existing package of care, {{org_field_name}} must escalate promptly to the registered manager or delegated senior person, and where appropriate to the commissioner, local authority, occupational therapist, equipment provider, NHS professional, safeguarding team or emergency services.

11. Safeguarding

Home adaptations and mobility equipment issues may amount to a safeguarding concern where there is abuse, neglect or a risk of abuse or neglect, including wilful neglect, organisational abuse, unsafe moving and handling, failure to act on known equipment risks, coercion, inappropriate restriction, or deliberate misuse or withholding of equipment.

Any safeguarding concern must be acted on immediately in line with the organisation’s safeguarding policy and local safeguarding adult procedures. Staff must know how to recognise, report and escalate concerns, including where the concern relates to a family member, informal carer, contractor, staff member or another professional.

Safeguarding action must be recorded clearly, including the nature of the concern, immediate protective action taken, who was informed, and any external referral made.

12. Complaints and Concerns

Service users, relatives, representatives and others must be able to raise concerns or complaints about home adaptations, equipment suitability, delays, safety, staff competence, communication, damage, lack of follow-up, or any related aspect of care delivery.

{{org_field_name}} will maintain an accessible process for receiving, investigating, responding to and learning from complaints. Complaints relating to third-party suppliers, landlords, local authorities or NHS services must still be acknowledged and responded to appropriately by {{org_field_name}} where they affect the delivery or safety of regulated care, including signposting or escalation to the correct body where necessary.

Complaint outcomes, actions taken and lessons learned must be recorded and fed into quality assurance and service improvement systems.

13. Governance, Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

{{org_field_name}} will maintain governance systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of practice relating to home adaptations and mobility equipment. This will include, where relevant, audits of assessments, consent records, care plans, risk assessments, training and competency records, incident trends, complaints, maintenance documentation, safeguarding concerns, referrals and review timeliness.

The organisation will use audit findings, complaints, incidents, near misses, safeguarding information, feedback and regulatory findings to identify themes, take corrective action, reduce risk and improve practice.

Records relating to assessments, decisions, referrals, actions, incidents, servicing information, communication with external professionals and reviews must be complete, accurate, contemporaneous and securely retained in line with record-keeping requirements.

14. Record-Keeping and Notifications

All actions taken under this policy must be clearly documented in the service user’s records, including assessments, identified risks, consent discussions, capacity assessments where applicable, referrals made, advice received, equipment in place, ownership and maintenance responsibilities, staff guidance, review dates, incidents and outcomes.

Where an incident meets the threshold for external notification or reporting, {{org_field_name}} will make notifications in line with the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and any other applicable legal or contractual requirement.

Where a notifiable safety incident occurs in connection with care and treatment, {{org_field_name}} will act in an open and transparent way with the relevant person and comply with the statutory duty of candour.

15. Policy Review and Updates

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and sooner where required by changes in legislation, statutory guidance, CQC guidance, local safeguarding procedures, contractual requirements, service delivery models, incident learning, complaints, audit findings or inspection outcomes.

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
Copyright © {{current_year}} – {{org_field_name}}. All rights reserved.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *