The Independent Living Service
About us
How can I access the service?
How soon will my needs be assessed?
Planning to meet your needs
How can the service help me?
What is a Direct Payment?
What do I do if I want to complain or comment about the service?
How much will I have to pay?
Contact information
Bolton’s Adult and Community Services and other organisations can provide a range of services to help and support people who have a physical disability or sensory need. Our services are aimed at you if you:
- have a permanent physical disability
- are deaf, hard of hearing or have a visual impairment
- have difficulty managing everyday activities
- depend on others for personal care
- have difficulty getting in and out and around your home
- care for someone with a physical disability
We can provide/ loan a range of equipment to meet your needs, enabling you to maintain your independence and safety in your own home.
Please see the Bolton catalogue by using the link on the top right-hand side of this page in the internal links section.
The kind of help that we can offer depends on your needs and way of life. We want you to lead a full and active life within your community and to support you in your chosen activities.
There are a number of ways that we can help you to stay at home. These include advice on how to manage everyday tasks, specialist equipment and modifications to your home.
If you feel you need help you can contact us and speak to the Duty Officer. To access our service we will need to assess your needs. We do this by carrying out a Community Care Assessment. We try to help the people with the most urgent need first. We have a system to help us to do this. Based on what you tell the Duty Officer and the information we have about you we decide if your request for an assessment is standard, urgent or an emergency.
If we consider your request is standard we will start your assessment of need as soon as possible but emergency and urgent cases will take priority.
Urgent requests usually mean that the assessment will start within 10 working days.
Emergency requests mean that the assessment will start within 2 working days.
Following your assessment, any equipment or minor adaptations will be supplied within 7 working days. Your Community Care Assessment will be carried out by a Disability Officer or an Occupational Therapist.
If we feel that you have a need for a service it will be necessary to work out what we can offer you. An Officer will talk to you about what you are able to do and look at ways to help you overcome any difficulties. This assessment will normally be carried out during a visit to your home. You will be involved in working out how your needs can be met. This can be simple and quick or can take time depending on your needs or circumstances. The assessment forms the basis of planning how your needs can be met.
After we have assessed your needs we will tell you whether we can provide you with help. We will then discuss the types of equipment and modifications to your home that will best meet your needs and write this down. The written document is known as a Care Plan and you will be given a copy to keep.
The service can help with advice, information on equipment and modifications to your home. Displays of equipment are available and there is an appointment system in place to arrange to view them.
We can provide information about other services that are available to you or your carer. We can put you in touch with organisations and voluntary groups.
With guidance from the Disability Equipment Service you can make your own arrangements for equipment and care and pay for them with a Direct Payment.
Direct Payments are a way of arranging your own services instead of Bolton’s Adult and Community Services arranging them for you. You can use the money to purchase equipment to meet your personal and domestic care needs following an assessment by the service. There is a list of local retailers within the Bolton area under the downloads section of this page.
You can talk to the Team Leader of the Disability Equipment Service about your concerns/comments. Often this will be all you need to do to sort your problems out.
Alternatively contact the Customer Relations Team on 01204 337 288.
There is no charge for equipment or adaptations made to your home.
If you would like to arrange for an assessment by the service and have a physical disability, then you can contact the Duty Disability Officer between 9:00am and 5:00pm Monday to Friday. Contact details can be found at the top of this page in the contact details section.
If you are in receipt of equipment and would like to return it please ring 01204 337060 or 337262.
If you would like to arrange an assessment and have a sensory need please contact:
Phone: 01204 337900
Fax: 01204 337817
Minicom: 01204 337901
Email: sensory.centre@bolton.gov.uk
If you would like some advice about buying your own equipment and what may be useful to meet your needs, please use the link to AskSARA at the top right-hand side of this page in the external links section.