FAQ - Healthcare

Your brother may be eligible for a specific grant from the local authority. What is available will depend on which of the UK countries he lives in and what his needs are.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can apply to the local authority for a disabled facilities grant. In Scotland, The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 allows local authorities to provide a grant for home adaptations required due to disability. Contact your local authority to find out what may be available to your brother. Read more about housing grants on the Disability Rights UK website here.

If you haven’t already, see if you sister is eligible for a medical exemption certificate. These are given to people with certain ongoing health conditions and it means your sister would receive her NHS prescriptions for free. It’s also worth checking if your sister is entitled to an NHS tax credit exemption certificate. Some people on a low income and in receipt of certain benefits may be eligible for this certificate. It entitles the person to free prescriptions, dental treatment, sight tests and the cost of travel to receive NHS treatment. If your sister isn’t eligible for this, try the NHS low income scheme, which will help with these costs. A final alternative, if your sister is not eligible for any of the above, would be to consider using a Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC). You pay a set amount upfront for 3 or 12 months, and receive the certificate. The certificate then covers the cost of your medications in that time. It’s cost effective if your sister has 2 or more regular prescriptions.

You brother is not alone – adults with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely to have a significant sight problem, yet much less likely to have eye tests or access the necessary prescriptions and treatments.

SeeAbility is a charity that promotes eye care for people with learning disabilities and autism. Their website has a wealth of helpful information, including:

• Easy-read fact sheets and advice
• A database of opticians’ practices who have experience of providing eye tests to people with learning disabilities and autism
• Eye care champions who can advise or signpost

Visit www.SeeAbility.org

Health and social care staff sometimes forget that the words they are using are jargon – it’s OK to remind them. Ask them to explain what they mean, and don’t be afraid to ask several times if their descriptions are still not clear.

There’s also The Care and Support Jargon Buster. This is an online plain English guide to the most commonly used health and social care words. You can search for a word or phrase and find out what it means. The definitions are in plain English rather than legal.

You can contact a patient advice service. These are independent services that are free to access and can provide information and guidance on what to do next. If you do choose to complain, they can support you through this process too. Putting in a complaint should never affect a person’s care.

England and Wales

• Contact the Patient’s Association

Scotland

• Contact the Patient Advice and Support Service 

Northern Ireland

• Contact the Patient and Client Council

Continuing healthcare (CHC) funding is available to some people with long-term and complex needs in England only. The funding is provided by the NHS and covers the person’s social care needs. Your brother would need to be assessed for eligibility. You can find out more about CHC funding, including the checklists that are used to determine eligibility here.

For free, independent advice on NHS CHC funding, contact Beacon.