Everyone should have access to normal household facilities and be able to use them. We are committed to helping you or your relatives to get access to those facilities.
If you are an elderly or disabled person there may be physical barriers that make it difficult for you to carry out ordinary day-to-day activities in your home. This could include items such as stairs or high-sided baths.
Our adaptations service aims to help make everyday life easier for you and your family. We deliver this service to you by working closely with our contractors, other agencies and Leeds City Council.
The sort of work we can help you with includes:
- Providing access to and from your home, e.g. ramps, hardstandings, step lifts;
- Making your home safe for disabled people and others living in your home, e.g. guard rails, safety glass etc.;
- Providing access to your principal family room, e.g. by widening doorways;
- Providing access to bedrooms, e.g. by providing a stairlift or extension;
- Providing access to your lavatory, e.g. by altering bathroom layouts or providing specialist WCs.;
- Providing access to your bath or shower, e.g. by replacing a bath with a wet-floor shower;
- Providing access to your wash-hand basin;
- Enabling you to prepare and cook food e.g. by providing low level kitchen units;
- Improving or providing heating or heating controls;
- Enabling you to use and control power, light and heat, e.g. by altering the position of light switches and power sockets;
- Enabling you to move around the home to care for another person, e.g. to enable a disabled parent to look after a child.
Some examples of the adaptations we do can be found below:
A wet floor shower
An access ramp
Please refer to our Adaptations Guide on the right which gives more detailed information about our service.
The following information gives the names and contact details and brief description of the team member's roles.
Katy Lester- Occupational Therapist
It is my responsibility to undertake assessments for adaptations and provision of equipment according to health needs. I also assess properties before the customer moves in to make sure that the adaptations in the property will meet their needs or assess the property if suitable for proposed adaptations to meet needs.
Contact Details -0113 2141998
Email: katy.lester@avhleeds.org.uk
Louise Ambler - Adaptations Officer
My role is to identify suitable properties that can be adapted or are already adapted to meet individual customer needs. I also assist the team by undertaking assessments for adaptations and equipment.
Contact Details - 0113 2141787
Email: louise.ambler@avhleeds.org.uk
Stephen Gavaghan - Adaptations Surveyor
My role is to undertake joint visits with Community Occupational Therapists to give technical advice on adaptations i.e. to check the feasibility of the proposed scheme. Carry out and prepare plans for adaptations such as access ramps or wet floor showers. Carry out surveys for stair lifts. Post inspect all major works on completion of the job. I also assist the team by undertaking assessments for adaptations.
Contact Details -0113 2141919
Email: stephen.gavaghan@avhleeds.org.uk
Sara France - Technical Support Officer
It is my role to provide administration support for the adaptations team.
This involves keeping accurate records and keeping database up to date.
Contact Details -0113 2141953
Email: sara.s.france@avhleeds.org.uk
Susan Carlisle - Adaptations Case Worker
My role is to assist the Occupational Therapist in the assessments for adaptations and equipment for our customers, for example: wet floor showers, over bath showers and minor adaptations. Also delivery of equipment as necessary.
Contact Details- 0113 2141998
Email: susan.carlisle@avhleeds.org.uk
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require advice or want a member of the team to visit you about any difficulties you may be experiencing with activities of daily living. If it is not something that we deal with we will always try to give you the advice that you need, so please do not hesitate to call.
Examples may be:
- I am struggling to get in and out of the bath.
- I get short of breath when going up stairs.
- I am finding it difficult to get up from the toilet as it is too low.