Criteria for funding equipment
| • A thorough assessment of need must have been undertaken by a member of staff with relevant professional competence from one of the participating agencies. This should include other equipment/strategies tried and the outcome |
| • Where appropriate consultation with colleagues in statutory or independent agencies should have taken place |
| • In exceptional circumstances, applications may be made for part or matched funding (for example, in conjunction with parents or charity funding), as well as for the full cost of equipment required |
| • If children have received insurance or other financial settlements for their disability, therapists should check whether the equipment can be funded from this source |
| • Equipment requested should not otherwise be the responsibility of any specific agency to supply. The joint equipment scheme should not be used to compensate for a budgetary deficiency on the part of any agency |
| • As a general rule, equipment should assist with more than one function, or be for use in more than one setting |
| • The intended location of the equipment must be specified |
| • When a buggy or other item of equipment is requested as a form of restraint, this should be part of a broader programme of behaviour management, ideally with clinical psychology input |
| • New situations arise and practice develops. The joint equipment group is always prepared to consider applications that do not appear to “fit” elsewhere. However, it cannot guarantee to offer a solution |