stairlifts etc

[MereDintofPandiculation]

DF may be able to come out of hospital and return home in due course, but mobility has crashed over the last few days. He has one bathroom/toilet upstairs, and he has a hospital type bed, but doesn't appear to be using its features. So can someone help please with the options?

OT was suggesting bed downstairs and a commode. This would work but would be very cramped. He'd want his computer desk down there too

I wondered about stairlift. I can see that a new one would cost 000s, resale value is about 10% of new, a reconditioned from a "proper company" would be about £1000, I'm not confident enough to try ebay, and would want it fitted - we've got too much else on to fit it ourselves.

If we went the stairlift route, we might have to have a temporary downstairs bed/commode set up, and I'm thinking in that case we should buy a new (cheap) bed, because a) couldn't get the hospital bed back upstairs with stairlift in place b) it's an enormous great heavy thing, about 40 years old, and I don't want to move it twice.

Can anyone offer any thoughts about this plan?

Dint, really hope your df can return home soon. Is it worth trying the short term measure first? See if mobilty improves? Could Ot provide a bed short term?
No knowledge of stairlifts- I’m sure someone will have more info.

We had this issue. The o.t. should be able to hire a hospital style bed and commode, you don't pay for this, don't even try and move the bed downstairs. If his mobility is poor then he needs a modern hospital,style bed with a pressure mattress, they have simple controls just an up and down headrest and foot button, the hire company set it up then dismantle it if you dont need it. he will probably also need a frame, chair cushion. We spend 3k on a stairlift which got used a couple of times, we had to pay a removal company to take it away and an electrician to help two strong men to dismantle it, it weighed a ton and was a waste of money. Long term you need to think about how he will get upstairs, maybe the o.t. and physio will know how his mobility will progress. It takes a lot of juggling but it's safer to be downstairs, see if he can have a bed table, would his computer fit on that or would he use a laptop.

We're in a similar situation at the moment. My dad has just come out of hospital but his mobility is really poor. So we've moved him downstairs (just his own regular bed, down in the living room). OT have provided a commode and we already had some urine bottles for him as there is no downstairs loo. OT have also sent a referral to Adult Social Care at our local council for them to come and do an assessment to see if he would be eligible for a stair lift. That should take a couple of weeks apparently. OT are coming out on Monday to see how he's getting on. My mum is not coping terribly well with it all and I'm wondering if we might have to see about getting carers in once or twice a day to help out.

DH thinks bed is not going to be that difficult to move (we've already moved it once), and we reckon we could set up computer desk in kitchen (he needs large desk to hold printer as well as computer and keyboard), so that bit's going to be a bit better.

Please keep thoughts coming! - it's all helpful.

My stairlift is a reconditioned one from Halton Stairlifts and can highly recommend them, I think I ordered it Monday and it was in by Wednesday lunchtime. If I remember correctly it was just under 2k for a straight staircase.

We paid nearly £5K for a stannah for my mum and when it went wrong just outside the guarantee period the call out fee was £195. Plus parts and labour. Just wish I’d known. They will probably try and flog some kind of rip-off extended warranty.

If he can get in and out of a normal bed then he does not need a hospital bed unless carers are providing personal care for him on the bed. If he can manage a few steps and get on and off a bed and chair without physical assistance, I would suggest you go for a reconditioned stairlift and have a bottle/ commode and riser recliner chair downstairs ( can get on eBay/ charity shops/ Friday and etc) If the deterioration in mobility is recent I would request a short term rehabilitation or reablement care package at home which aims to get him back to previous level of function. They could supervise on off stairlift am and pm and he could nap in chair during day. If he has a pattern of bowels open first thing, he might not even need commode but good for emergencies. If you do buy a bed, ask OT what best height he manages in and out.

We've already got the hospital bed because it was purchased for my Mum. Slight deterioration for the last few weeks (3 weeks ago he was out on buses), catastrophic nosedive over about 2 days. Hospital appear unconcerned and want to discharge.

You can rent stairlifts, this is what I have done for my mum. It was something like £1100 deposit then £40/month after 6 months

If he was getting buses 3 weeks ago you need to ask for rehabilitation either as an inpatient or from a community team. It is right that he leaves the acute hospital when no longer needing doctors around, but not necessarily right that he go home yet unless he will get ot and physio at home plus a reablement care package where the carers encourage him to do as much as he can.

vdbfamily "reablement care package" - that's a very useful phrase to know - thank you!

Reconditioned stair lifts are only available if you have a straight staircase I think. They are such a ripoff. My parents' one cost £7500 (it "had" to be Stannah because of the adverts) and was used for 11 months. Got £270 for it a couple of months ago.

I do not know where you're based but no way should a second hand stair lift cost that - ever. Please look around, they're reasonably straight forward to fit although you may need new electric points.

Hospital beds of the type that are sent into people's homes should come apart fairly easily so there shouldn't be a problem with that and indeed the stairlift may assist in lifting the pieces up and down stairs.

Thanks for all the help. They're moving him to a care home to get him more mobile, with the intention of getting him back home. So speed of stairlift installation is getting important!

Usually the cost of a reconditioned lift includes fitting so if your parents have straight stairs then that is a good option and can usually be fitted in a few days.

My mum had a stair lift installed by the council . It wasn't new and after she passed away it had to be returned so check whether your local council offers them.

Community OT says Local Council takes months to approve stairlift, and prefers to go for the cheaper "sleep in your living room and use a commode" option.

Our local council has introduced hospital discharge grants and stairlift are included in that and bypass the normal waiting list but have not tested that. If your dad was ever in the army then SSAFA often agree to fund stuff like that too.

www.haltonstairliftsltd.co.uk
This is the company I mentioned upthread.

Thanks careofcell

We were looking into a stairlift for mum but she died before it became essential. I haven't kept the paperwork, seemed inessential all things considered, but the quote was about £2000 for a reconditioned one with fitting.