Dear All
We have been contacted be a prospective student who
is hoping to come and study at our University this September. The student
is a wheelchair user (brittle bone syndrome), with little upper body strength
and considerable personal care needs. They are 25 and have always lived at home,
with all their care needs met by a family member. To date we have not had a
student with such significant needs wishing to reside in our halls of residence.
We have a number of wheelchair users with as significant needs studying at
Queen's and we are able to meet all of their needs, though they do all live at
home.
The student is going to require a full time PA
during the day, which we will have no problem sourcing and paying for (DSA),
however I am concerned about the personal care needs for the student and who is
responsible for this. As far as I am aware, DSA does not cover the cost of
personal care outside the normal academic day (mon - fri, 9 -5pm), therefore
where will the money come from the pay for a carer to meet personal care needs.
Is this the local trust? Who's responsibility is it to organise this - us or the
trust? I have many questions regarding this and I was just wondering if anyone
has had experience of putting such a package of care in place for a student with
a significant physical disability? Some of the issues are:
1. The student will require an emergency alarm in
their room - who will be on call for this?
2. If Halls of residence or other staff
require lifting & handling training, who would provide this and cover the
costs
3. The student details that they require a bath
rather than a shower for medical reasons - none of our rooms have a bath. They
wish a bath to be built - is this reasonable? Who pays for it?
4. Where does the duty of care lie - with the
Institution or the trust.
I would greatly appreciate anyone's thoughts/advice
on this please (NB - we do not have SENDA in Northern Ireland yet).
Many thanks
Emma
------------------------------------------
Emma Kelly
Disability Projects
Officer
Disability Services
Queen's University Belfast
BT7 1NN
028
9027 3225
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