Sheltered Accommodation in the Derbyshire Dales

Dales Housing offer 32 Sheltered Housing Schemes within the Derbyshire Dales, in Bakewell, Hope Valley, Youlgrave, Darley Dale, Matlock, Cromford, Wirksworth and Ashbourne.

These properties are either:

Individual designated 1 - 2 bed roomed flats and bungalows within the community
or studio apartments and 1 -2 bed roomed flats within a bespoke building, with communal areas and facilities.

What is Sheltered & Supported Housing?

Sheltered & Supported Housing is specially designed rented accommodation for elderly or vulnerable people who enjoy independent living. It provides comfortable accommodation with the added security of a Sheltered Housing Officer providing daily contact Monday to Friday, and additional contact and support provided by a ‘Carelink’ emergency alarm system 24 hours a day, with evening weekend and bank holiday response services to attend where this is found necessary.

The benefits of Sheltered & Supported Housing are:

Independence with support
Higher level security
Own front door
24 hour call system within the property
Peace of mind, with help on hand in emergencies
A support plan, agreed between you and the Sheltered Housing Officer, to meet your individual support needs
Accredited to National Sheltered Housing Standards
Companionship and being part of a community

What does the Sheltered Officer do?

A Sheltered Housing Officer’s main duty is to provide support to each resident. They take a co-ordinating role to help a resident to access other services, such as Home Care Aid, Health Services, Social Services and Social Activities to maintain independence. These areas of need are identified in the Support Plan. In an emergency such as an illness or a fall, the Sheltered Housing Officer will contact relatives, call a doctor or the emergency services as required. The Sheltered Housing Officers are in daily contact (Monday to Friday) with each tenant either by a visit or via intercom system, which is installed in each home.

What is a Support Plan?

This is a comprehensive confidential document completed in conjunction with every person living in sheltered accommodation. It helps to identify any support needs a person may have and assists us to co-ordinate the most appropriate support to facilitate independent living.

Community Alarm

The alarm monitoring service is provided by Tunstall response. When the sheltered housing officer is off duty, activated alarms are forwarded to the Tunstall Control Centre where the trained operators will co-ordinate assistance. This could be a nominated relative or friend, doctor, emergency services or a member of the Sheltered Standby team to attend.

Telecare

Telecare and Telehealth are the generic names for Assistive Technology – electrical equipment installed into the home to enable people to live safely and independently.

Telecare offers different benefits to different people. It is quick and easy to install and once in place will trigger an agreed response for different incidents. Telecare can trigger an alarm that indicates something is wrong.

Different sensors are fitted in the home. These can include falls detector, flood detector, bogus caller alarm, pendant alarm, motion sensor, gas detector and shut off valve, carbon monoxide detector, medication dispenser, bed occupancy monitor and paging equipment. These are connected to the community alarm system through the telephone line via the main lifeline unit.

The equipment raises automatic alerts via the Tunstall call centre. They will alert the responder to the activation of the sensors placed either in the property (e.g. flood detector) or on the person (e.g. falls detector).

The equipment is owned by Derbyshire County Council and is currently provided by free of charge, however there is a monitoring and maintenance charge of £5 plus VAT per week. If a client is in receipt of a qualifying benefit, or is assessed as on a low income this charge will currently be paid by Derbyshire County Council. A financial assessment is completed at the time of application.

An assessment of need is completed by either a Sheltered Housing Officer, Social worker, the NHS service or any other organisation trained to complete the application form.

Applying for Sheltered Accommodation

Sheltered Housing available for rent is advertised via the Home-Options process. Home-Options is a joint venture with Derbyshire Dales, High Peak, Amber Valley and Erewash where property is advertised at www.home-options.org or details can be found at local libraries or via the individual housing associations.

An application form for re-housing is submitted to Derbyshire Dales District Council who assess the re-homing need based upon the application information. Once registered, an application (a bid) can be made for a property within any of the areas registered on Home-Options, subject to qualifying conditions.