£631,000 approved for home lifts in Northern Trust area

Board members were told at a meeting in Antrim Hospital last week that the sum would cover the provision of 82 lifts.

A report presented to the Trust board said that the Northern Health and Social Care Trust has a duty to provide home lifts to service users in their own homes, either privately owned or rented properties.

Provision includes stair lifts, both straight and curved, platform lifts for external access, ‘through-floor’ lifts and overhead tracking hoists.

The report said: “Home lifts are provided to enable service users to access first floor / upstairs facilities in the home, in circumstances where suitable arrangements cannot be made on ground floor level.”

It stated that access to and from and within the home is “an essential component of enabling older and disabled people to remain and be cared for in their own home.”

The report noted: “The service plays a key role in enabling people with disabilities, long-term conditions, progressive neurological disorders, age-related frailty and complex mobility needs to remain safe, independent and socially connected within their own homes and communities.”

Members were advised that for the 2026/27 financial year, the Trust has a requirement to install 80 new lifts at an estimated cost of £604k based on the average cost of a lift, £7,538 with an additional two lifts required by clients on the waiting list at a cost of £28k.

They were told that the requirement differs each year and is “demand-related”.