Council delays force young people into institutions

By Paul Carter

People with spinal injuries face being placed in unsuitable housing conditions after being discharged from treatment, according to new research.

Spinal injury charity Aspire looked at data from three of England’s nine specialist spinal injuries hospitals, and found that a quarter of patients were discharged to care homes, hospitals or other institutionalised settings. The youngest was 21 years old.

The charity also claims that, due to the slow process in obtaining disabled facilities grants (DFGs), people with spinal injuries are often released into inaccessible housing, leaving them unable to get to a bathroom, or leave their home.

Aspire’s campaigns manager, Alex Rankin, said: “It’s an attitude issue. People seem to think that its acceptable to place young people into nursing homes or inaccessible housing simply because they have a spinal injury and clearly we don’t think that’s acceptable.”

He said the problem largely came down to local authorities, who he said were “too slow” at processing DFGs.

A Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) spokesman said current legislation requires councils to give a decision within six months of receiving a DFG application, and to pay the grant either on completion of the works or within 12 months of the application.

He said: "The government recognises the importance of the DFG programme in helping people live independently in their own homes, which is why we have increased the funding to £166m a year by 2010 from its current level of £146m. We have also increased the individual grant level to £30,000 per application."