Hi, does anyone know if you can get your home assessed for hazards and any problems fixed? I would be happy to pay. I live in an old Victorian house and think I need a baby gate or something to stop me falling downstairs on my way to the bathroom!
If you have Parkinson’s and live in England contact your GP and ask for a referral to get your home assessed and made safe for your condition. It was free for me. I had handrails fitted, a special high toilet and my chair raised higher off the ground so that I can get up off it, all for free.
Best of luck.
Steve2
1 Like
Hi, @Roy_Phillips. Thanks for posting this question.
You can usually ask your local council’s adult social care team for a home safety or occupational therapy (OT) assessment. An OT can visit your home, identify potential hazards (like stairs or bathroom access), and suggest or arrange adaptations such as handrails, stair gates, or non-slip flooring. Even if you’re happy to pay privately, your local council can still help arrange this or recommend trusted services.
You can read more about occupational therapy and home adaptations here.
If you’d like some guidance on how to contact your local services, our trained experts can help. They’re available on 0808 800 0303 (9am and 6pm Monday to Friday, and 10am and 1pm on Saturdays).
You’re definitely not alone in this. Lots of people in our community have made similar changes and found them really worthwhile! 
Parkinson’s UK Moderation Team
1 Like
Many thanks. I’m usually OK with most things, but my journey from bedroom to bathroom at 3am (when I may or may not be on an ‘off’ period) passes the top of a steep staircase. I don’t feel at all comfortable with it. It’s a lovely place and we don’t want to have to move. We bought the house about 14 years ago, long before diagnosis. If I’d known back then, I would have avoided a house built on three levels (four if you count the attic, five if you count the cellar!)
1 Like
Thanks for this information - it’s encouraging to know there’s help I can get and some sort of assessment would be really useful.
Good luck with occupational health. I contacted my husband’s surgery only to be told it would be at least 9 months before they can even consider coming out to him
I have to say I do not have much faith in our medical care in this area of Derbyshire
1 Like