Hi all. Ive had a funny few days and am finding it harder and harder to get up the stairs. I'm considering hiring stair lift and wondered if any one had any experience of doing so. I've looked at few on line and their initial cost seem quite high. Do the NHS help here?
Your comments and guidance would be appreciated.
Hi Baldie, I think you will need to get in touch with the social services to be assessed but worth the hassle if it means you will get one provided at no cost or subsidised. Also, I believe you can get reconditioned second hand ones from suppliers. Libby
PS: If you haven't already seen this you may find it helpful, a guide from AgeUK
Thanks for that Libby I'll have a look
This should help - gov.uk/disabled-facilities-...
And here's a good explanation - dialdoncaster.co.uk/informa... - but don't ring the number(s) given unless you live in the Doncaster area, I just use that page for reference.
For your area Baldie, try here:- eastleigh.gov.uk/housing/do... - call them on 01329 225376 
You apply to your local council, they take weeks to get someone out to assess you, If they agree that you need a home adaptation, as they refer to it, then they will help you arrange for installation and explain about payment. It is means tested, you won't get anything if you have savings over a certain amount, but no harm in at least trying.
Again thanks for that it's worth looking into.
Social Services will assess you and can supply but don't seem to do so in all areas. The NHS has a department that also supplies aids and adaptations. Get your consultant to put in a referral for an assessment there also. Good luck.
Thanks
Hi, not sure where you are, but we applied for a disabled facilities grant from our council. It's a bit of hassle but well worth doing. I got one put in for my mum, not free but I think she paid about £700 instead of the £4500 it would cost to install yourself.
If the council put one in, the will service and repair it for free.
It is means tested, but don't let that put you off. My parents don't qualify for pension credits as my dad has a good pension.
Good luck
If you need a stairlift follow the advice above and get assessed.
Make sure you do not fall into the trap of getting no exercise at all. For COPD patients, no exercise is not good.
Best wishes
The same thing I was thinking about neglecting exercise as a bad idea when they can still be carried out with some breathlessness as normal.
I suffer from Pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. I had an infection recently which landed me in hospital for two weeks - still having to use oxygen 24 hrs and finding going upstairs very very hard. We had a stairlift put in about three weeks ago. As we have a pension we did not qualify for any help (rang social services to enquire). The coast depends very much on the type of staircase - straight or curved. Ours is straight - we got three quotes and chose the middle one - £1900 for new. It has been invaluable - I do not dread going up to bed at night and can move around the whole house - much less hassle than moving!!!!!!
Maggie
Hi Baldie.
If you suffer from COPD get in touch with your care teem they might be able to help .
I hope you have better luck then I had they refused me on 'health and safety' grounds,leaving me housebound so I had to put myself in dept and buy one myself (I live in a 1st floor flat).
Good luck .
We had one fitted by social services and had to pay a small amount towards it, it depends on your savings. The only drawback is after a couple of years you have to insure it yourself which in our case is £300 per year.
But, I wouldn't be without it.
polly xx
hi
have a look on ebay i got one three years ago for £400 suppy and fitted it is not very modern but it does what i wantedit for
Thanks very much for all your comments, Food for thought.
Hi.
Have a look if you can bear it at the history below of having an Acorn curved stairlift installed 3/1/2013, replaced by 2 staight ones and eventually thrown out after I think 15 engineer visits.
You will surely decide that, if you are considering having a curved stairlift then the only rational decision is Stannah - mine works a treat and has not malfunctioned once since installation on 25/2/13.
Oh, and if you have an Acorn "surveyor" (= salesman) to call, cross check everything he says - you may find that not everything he says about Acorn (who are not a genuinely British company) and Stannah (who are) carries the hallmark of truth.
Frank
"I write in connection with the Stairlift which I ordered from your “surveyor” Anthony Reynolds (who appears in reality to have been a salesman) on 28th December 2012, for which you accepted a deposit of £2000 from **** Bank on 29th December 2012.
History of the installation and performance of the goods.
January 3 2013 – engineer installed stairlift infrastructure - control panel, wiring, track, latest version of carriage. Carriage did not operate.
January 7 2013 – engineer replaced carriage with “more stable” prior version of carriage & control panel. Lift was working when he left.
January 9 2013 – called Acorn (twice) – carriage stopped working.
January 10 2013 – engineer fixed fault.
January 10 2013 – called Acorn again – carriage stopped working again. Told Management would call.
January 11 2013 – engineer fixed fault.
January 12 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working
January 12 2013 – engineer fixed fault.
January 19 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working
January 20 2013 – engineer fixed fault
January 20 2013 – emailed Acorn – carriage stopped working – asked for lift to be removed if not capable of fixing.
January 21 2013 – called Acorn – Customer Helpline Supervisor David promised to send a senior engineer.
January 21 2013 – engineer fixed fault
January 21 2013 – Acorn called to say they were replacing the carriage.
January 21 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working.
January 22 2013 – called Acorn again – said would send engineer.
January 22 2013 – engineer fixed fault
January 22 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working.
January 23 2013 – engineer arrived to change carriage - Acorn had sent the wrong carriage. Changed frequency on downstairs remote control and fixed fuse problem on old carriage, which started working. But he forgot to change the frequency on the upstairs remote control so I had to call him for instructions & change the frequency myself as I could not call the carriage upstairs to take me down.
January 24 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working.
January 25 2013 – 2 engineers arrived to change carriage. Left with it working.
January 29 2013 – called Acorn – carriage stopped working. Told Acorn I had reported to Trading Standards. All sorts of people calling from Acorn to promise an engineer on January 30th and a determination to get the installation working properly and reliably.
January 30th 2013 – engineer fixed fault
January 30th 2013 – Call from Customer Helpline Supervisor David as follows :-
1) The carriages of this type are complex & have two boards screwed together to handle the two motors needed to go round the curves
2) If the carriage stops at the charge point with a jerk because it has been programmed to travel fast, the two boards eventually separate & the carriage falsely reports that it is tilted, and stops working (fault 4)
3) Some engineers (e.g. the ones who fitted the replacement carriage on January 25th) programme the carriage to go too fast.
4) He could not see that this was an admission that the carriage was not capable of handling all the circumstances in which it might operate and that the engineers were not properly trained to programme the carriage within the reliable operating parameters.
5) He reinstated a previous suggestion that the existing stairlift infrastructure - control panel, wiring, curved track, curved carriage – be removed and replaced by a simpler setup with two straight tracks, one ground to half landing, one from half landing to top. I would need to walk across the landing from one lift to the other. This arrangement cuts out the complex curved track, second motor, and probably most important self levelling device for changing from slope to horizontal and back to slope. Even with 2 carriages it is a lot cheaper ( by £1600) than what we've got and is supposed to be more reliable.
On advice from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, I am asserting my rights under the Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982 as follows :-
I will accept the new proposal and will pay the remaining cost (£2000) if, after two weeks of the new installation, I receive a phone call from Acorn enquiring as to my satisfaction with it and I am satisfied with its reliability and performance. If there is a further breakdown of the carriage or infrastructure I will hold you in breach of contract as either the goods are not of satisfactory quality OR they have not been installed with reasonable care and skill. Therefore you will have one further opportunity to correct the situation, after which I will require a refund of all sums paid and the removal of the new installation.
Again on the advice of the Citizens Advice Consumer Service I am copying this recorded delivery letter to them and to **** Bank (who will be jointly & severally liable under section 75).
Another breakdown of the curved track, discomfort with the straight one - I threw it out.
Oh, and if you are receiving no benefits already because of having savings, forget any grants.
Frank
Thanks for that. It really seems to be a case of buyer beware. And your right I don't qualify for any grants.
my Mum had one fitted free in Suffolk a couple of years ago. No mess, no fuss. She was 83 at the time & had become unexpectedly unwell P
please see my profile regarding our stair lift saga with a acorn model.
Thank you all 
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