38% of disabled people live in rented accommodation(1). Mobility is the biggest disability issue(2).
Being a portable piece of equipment, our stairclimber is classed as an auxiliary aid.
Our stairclimbing wheelchair overcomes the issue of stairs limiting accessibility.
It works whether in a rented house or common parts in a MOU (multiple occupancy unit).
Unlike the conventional alternative of a stairlift or through-floor lift, our battery-powered S-Max stairclimber requires no physical or structural change to the home.
Once the client is sat on the S-Max, there’s no need for intermediate transfers until the destination is reached.
Their carer just pushes a button and guides the S-Max from room to room, up and down steps and stairs.
S-Max solves accessibility and mobility for more than one disabled tenant.
Our equipment helps numerous disabled tenants overcome their mobility limitations over its average 15 year lifespan(3), using our unique re-issue scheme.
Nor is additional capital equipment funding/ DFG allocation(4) required.
“In our 25 years’ experience, we find S-Max can solve the problem of stairway access in 90+% of scenarios,” observes Peter Wingrave, AAT Director.
“S-Max provides a fast, safe, cost-efficient way to enable people to remain in their homes.
"People are no longer at a substantial disadvantage in their home, unable to access various floors or go beyond their front door.
“Something as simple as re-allocating a stairclimber could avoid disabled tenants having a sense of isolation and inaccessibility. And most local authorities already have our stairclimbing wheelchair!”
Full details of AAT’s S-Max, and the company’s re-issue facility, are available on its website @ http://www.aatgb.com/ots/ and http://www.aatgb.com/s-max/
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(3)http://subject to appropriate assessment, care and servicing.
Legally, landlords must allow disabled tenants to make changes necessary to their full enjoyment of the premises. The landlord must reasonably accommodate their needs, one of the most common of which is mobility.
Under the Housing Health & Safety Rating System, the landlord has to take necessary steps to make stairway access safe, inside and outside of the property AND in common areas.
Inside the home, making the stairs safe usually means the physical installation of equipment (eg a stairlift) which then incurs cost and delay for it removal and making good when that tenant vacates the property.
Common parts can pose problems, to ensure any solution does not adversely impact the safety of other, able tenants when they are using the stairs.
AAT’s pioneering S-Max Sella stairclimber/ stairclimbing wheelchair delivers an almost immediate way to enable a tenant with reduced mobility- whether a short- or long-term limitation- to safely transfer up, down almost any stairs or steps.
The portable unit is not fixed in any way to the stairs, leaving stairway access unimpeded within the property for other residents.
Battery-powered, with an integral seat and safety strap/harness, it climbs or descends steps at a consistent pace set by the operator and folds compactly away when not in use.
S-Max Sella has an impeccable safety record throughout its 20 years of utilisation on UK stairways. AAT also supplies S-Max which can be attached to a wheelchair.
AAT fully trains the care-giver in safe operation of the unit, and uniquely provides a range of packages covering service & maintenance and equipment management.
The S-Max Sella can be sourced by the tenant via the local authority social services, or forward-thinking housing associations can buy themselves to almost immediately make its housing stock safe for almost all tenants who either have, or develop, reduced mobility.
The S-Max Sella can be easily allocated to a new tenant when the original recipient no longer needs it(*).
“Stairs are one of the most common areas where people fall- whether disabled or not,” says Peter Wingrave AAT Director. “All landlords have a duty of care to ensure tenant safety. Our S-Max Sella is proven over 20 years to manage the risk of stairs and steps, and make stairway access safe.”
Full details of the S-Max stairclimber can be found at https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/where a free, no obligation assessment can also be booked.
Any MOU over two storeys should have a lift.
But what if that lift is out of order- a common occurrence and outside the realms of PEEPS(2), or if the MOU is only two storeys.
If the tenant has impaired mobility- the most common limitation- they become a prisoner in their home.
A stairclimber/ stairclimbing wheelchair such as AAT’s top-selling S-Max delivers safe egress.
Unlike conventional evacuation chairs, it also delivers safe ingress.
Thus the disabled tenant is able to come and go as normal.
A portable, mobile unit, S-Max means there is no permanent nor temporary fixture to the stairway, thereby common parts are not impeded for other tenants.
All that is needed is a person trained in the equipment to control the battery-powered unit- whether someone who cares for the tenant, or the building manager.
AAT’s S-Max can travel 300 steps from a single battery charge- equivalent to a 20-storey block of flats.
The standard unit can be easily attach to most common wheelchairs; the Sella version incorporates an integral seat with support arms and harnessing for optimal safety for the passenger.
Using this technique, the disabled tenant is safely able to get in and out of the building, into their home and into the outside space and beyond.
Use of stairclimbers in MOU’s is increasingly popular up and down the country- proven in practice from East London to Yorkshire.
They are a cost-effective, non-disruptive way of enabling the tenant to remain in their home, for the social housing provider to meet their legal obligations and to provide short-term safe access/exit until the lift is repaired/operational.
The housing association has an asset it can re-cycle/re-use when the original recipient no longer needs it to manage risk with other tenants should they become disabled whilst more suitable, ground-level accommodation is found for them or when the lift is repaired/operational again.
For each recipient, AAT provides in-depth assessment of the person and the ‘environment’ top assess suitability, and trains the operator in the stairclimber’s safe use.
Full details of the S-Max stairclimber can be found at https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/ where a free, no obligation assessment can also be booked.
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References:
(1) https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/disability-groups-call-more-accessible-housing-privaterentershttps://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/disability-groups-call-more-accessible-housing-privaterenters
(2)Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan
We are launching an innovative service specifically for social housing organisations, aimed at making the social housing stock work for everyone, making homes more accessible, without any structural alteration.
The service centres around our #1 selling S-Max Sella stairclimber (aka stair climbing wheelchair) combined with the unique Universal Back accessory.
The combination means that almost anyone with a mobility issue- the most common impairment felt by the 6.2million social housing tenants who are disabled- can access all levels of their home and get safely in and out of a MOU (multi occupancy unit).
It means many inaccessible homes become accessible, enabling the SHP to balance the needs of the tenant and its housing stock for less than £1500/tenant(1)/without Disabled Facilities Grant funding.
Importantly, the S-Max Sella requires no installation nor structural fixing. Thus in individual homes there is no need for structural survey and in MOUs- which account for more than 35% of housing stock, there is no impact on common parts.
The equipment can be recycled/ re-issued to other tenants when no longer needed by the original recipient.
Our service is a flexible package with options including assessment of the tenant and their home to determine suitability, provision of the equipment, training of the tenant’s carer(s), annual service & maintenance of the equipment in line with LOLER regulations, and management of the social housing provider’s stairclimber stock.
Buying in to our service means the housing provider makes inroads into compliance with the Equality Act Section 36, and the new Building Safety Act with regard to safe, fast evacuation of disabled tenants.
In essence, the S-Max is a portable kinematic, battery-powered device that ascends or descends steps, at a rate set and controlled by the carer. AAT’s Class 1 Medical Device certified stairclimber will execute 300 steps from one charge.
AAT’s Universal Back accessory can clip-fit to the unit if required to provide supplementary support to each user’s needs.
“Adopting a strategic plan such as utilisation of our facility enables the SHP to cost-effectively meet the needs of the tenant for little outlay and no disruption to the housing stock.
“It means a tenant with reduced mobility in an upstairs flat is no longer housebound. Their safety in the event of fire is protected. It potentially extends the scope of available housing.”
Peter Wingrave, AAT Director
Established 20 years ago, we have built a reputation as the stairclimber people. Thousands of units are now in regular use throughout the UK and have an impeccable safety record. AAT GB is the only supplier in its sector with the depth of kit and service to support SHPs in its obligation to disabled tenants.
For further details of the S-Max Sella and Universal Back visit: https://www.aatgb.com/mobility-stairclimbers/.
For further information about the social housing service, email sales@aatgb.com or telephone 01978 821875.
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