Stair lifts

[MrsWhirly]

Hi all, Mum is 75 and dying of liver cancer.

Huge deterioration of her health and mobility in the last two months, including falls.

We are building her a downstairs toilet but she struggles to get up and down the stairs, essentially crawling.

I’ve used all my savings for her toilet, has anyone had help in buying and installing a stair lift? Thank you.

Soery about your mum, that must be hard for you all. Has she had a home assessment from social sercices, they may be able to help you with some equipment like a hospital bed, recliner chair, bath stool, falls mat, falls alarm, key safe, its all free. Would she be happy with a bed downstairs somewhere. Stairlift cost a couple of thousand pounds to install, I've never really known anyone use them and you cannot sell them , ours ended up on the tip. You may also be able to get a grant for any house improvements, social services and the gov.uk website will know. If your mum is very poorly have you considered what benefits and help she is entitled to at home.

My parents spent £7000 on a stairlift because it was an awkward shaped staircase. We got £270 for it 2 years later. They can reuse the straight bits & the chair & if it is a straight up & down staircase toucan get reconditioned ones which are a lot cheaper. I have to say, I think my parents were conned. The salesman knew they needed something urgently & they didn't shop around. The company they bought it from (Stanna) wouldn't buy it back but I did find a company by googling who would at least give us something for it as well as uninstalling it for us.

I'm sorry to hear about your mum If your parents had any military ties you could try SSAFA or British Legion they have both helped my mum out with adaptions. SSAFA fitted a stair lift and the Legion sourced a mobility scooter? We tried the council but they were taking years with paperwork and constant OT appointments being cancelled

Talk to adult social services at your local council, they will be able to advise, it will be means tested, and if your mother qualifies, there might be a long waiting list.
If your mother/father were members of any professional body/charity she may be able to get some help. The Freemasons installed my mother's stair lift as there was an 18 month waiting list withe the local authority.

With your mum being so poorly any help she can get may not be means tested, ask social services or the Macmillan team if she has links to that, possibly also a hospice homecare team.

Has she been given a timescale?

Is there a partner who might need a stair lift in future (hence could leave it installed?)

It is possible to rent stair lifts, but it's important to do the calculations on how long it would be until it would have been cheaper to buy outright. They're also only available for stairs in 'simple' shapes

Hi I'm an OT working in s/s. Try ringing your local council and asking the process/timescales for a stairlift. Where I work we fast track palliative patients and can get stairlifts in, non-means tested, in a few weeks. It is a bit of a post code lottery though and different councils have different ways of doing things.

Thanks all, I spoke to adult social services via the council today. They couldn’t have me a timescale but said they would try and rush it through given Mum is terminal. Mum and dad are not part of any bodies so I doubt they could get any help.

Apologies, when I said timescale I was trying to say life expectancy in a diplomatic way.

I've seen private temporary stairlifts go in next day, FWIW

AvocadosBeforeMortgages Mum has never been given a timeline, or even a prognosis. However there is no treatment available her her type of cancer at the stage it is at, so she was recently handed from oncology to the community palliative team. Luckily for us, this is St Christopher’s Hospice. However, Liver cancer is deadly so I suspect untreated it will speed up.

Got a second hand stannah for my parents cheap and quickly on eBay of all places from stannah themselves - very simple straight staircase though

Be careful. In my previous Trust, you had to be 100% independent to use them or get family to assist. Care workers were not allowed to give ANY physical assistance with them (so even a gentle hand on the back to steady them). So many people spent hundreds to discover they're relatively useless after a point and ended up having hospital beds in sitting rooms regardless.