FAQs.
If this list doesn’t answer your particular question, try asking other disabled islanders in our Forum.
- What respite care is available for children in Guernsey?
- What respite care is available for adults in Guernsey?
- How do I get help to access the support I need?
- I want to return to work but I don’t know where to start?
- Is there a charity to support me?
- What does the GDA website enable me to do?
- I have had a referral for medical treatment in the UK. How do I make travel arrangements?
- I am a wheelchair user. What public transport is available to me?
- Who are the Community Services Team?
- How do I apply for a Disabled Person’s Blue Badge for my car?
- Where can I get help if I think my employer is discriminating against me?
- Who can help me get the specialist equipment I need?
- I live in social housing. Can my house be adapted to make life easier for me?
- Where can carers go to relax and meet others?
What respite care is available for children on Guernsey?
Finding childcare you can trust is always difficult. Finding childcare when your child needs specialist care and support is particularly challenging. But being able to take a break is vital for your health and wellbeing and for that of your child.
In Guernsey the respite facility for children is called The Croft and is run by HSSD. It is a residential unit near the coast at Portinfer. It has four beds for children and offers day, overnight and weekend stays. Staff also provide afterschool care, play schemes in the school holidays and may provide some outreach support at the child’s home.
To be eligible to use The Croft, your child must be on the learning disability register and have been formally assessed by HSSD as needing respite. The maximum amount of respite provided for each child is four weeks a year.
The phone number for The Croft is 258487 and more details about the service are on the States website here.
What respite care is available for adults in Guernsey?
Respite care gives family members, and the disabled relative they are caring for, a break to recharge their batteries by providing a short stay in a residential or nursing home.
Guernsey’s Social Security Dept (SSD) will fund up to four weeks of respite care a year for an adult with a physical, sensory or learning disability so long as it is provided in a recognised residential or nursing home in the island. This entitlement is not dependent on the person’s contributions record but is conditional on an assessment by HSSD. The disabled person must have lived in Guernsey for a minimum of five years in total and for the 52 weeks immediately prior to the respite claim.
For more information click here to download HSSD’s Respite Care leaflet.
Alternatively, call Health and Social Services on 725241, extension 3313, to speak with someone about the Respite Services available for both you and your relative.
How do I get help to access the support I need?
Many of our members have told us that they would really appreciate being able to talk regularly to one main person who could help them negotiate the system in Guernsey to get the support they need, whether that is care, housing, benefits, employment, equipment etc.
Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for this kind of help from either a Social Worker or other “key worker” like an Occupational Therapist or a Specialist Nurse. These professionals are employed by the Health and Social Services Department and there is no charge for their assistance and no means test (although some of the support they may refer you to may be mean tested). They take on cases based on an assessment of need, not financial circumstances.
Your GP can refer you to a Social Worker or you can contact them yourself.
The Social Workers for adults under 65 with physical, sensory or learning disability are part of the Adult Disability and Supported Employment Service (ADSES) which includes the Community Occupational Therapist and the MS/Parkinson’s/MND Specialist Nurse. Just call 230001 or drop into the ADSES office on the upper floor of St Martin’s Community Centre (Professor Shaw).
To access a Social Worker for an adult who is over 65, call the PEH switchboard on 725241 and ask for Community Services for Adults.
To access a Social Worker for child with physical, sensory or learning disability, contact the Child Development Centre based at Le Rondin School on 268429.
I want to return to work but I don’t know where to start?
The Social Security department provides support and guidance for people wishing to make a return to work. To contact a member of the Work Rehabilitation Team call one of the determining Officers on 732563. For more information about what services the Work Rehabilitation Team provides, click here to download an online leaflet.
If you think you may need more support in getting back to work you could call and speak with somebody at the Supported Employment Scheme on 701032. Alternatively you can click here to download the online leaflet of the Supported Employment Services.
Is there a charity to support me?
Depending on your specific needs, please click on Links to direct you to GDA charity page. This will direct you to the member organisations that are involved with the GDA.
If you cannot find what you need follow the link to the Association of Guernsey Charities to access a full list of charities based on the island.
What does the GDA website enable you to do?
If you have a question about living life as a disabled person in Guernsey, why not ask other disabled islanders? It’s a small island, someone is bound to know the answer.
The first step is to look in our Frequently Asked Questions to see if what you are interested in is something that a lot of people want to know.
If that doesn’t work, check the relevant category in our Information Forum to see if someone else has already asked something similar. While you are on the Forum page, why not look at other people’s questions and see if you can help with the local info they are searching for? If your question hasn’t been asked yet, try posting it on the Forum yourself and coming back in a few days to see who’s answered you.
In the meantime, you can keep up with the news relevant to disabled islanders in our News Blog.
This website was built by disabled islanders, and the local charities who support them, as a place where disabled people and their family members can share information and experiences.
If you’d like to give us any feedback about this site or the work of the Guernsey Disability Alliance in general, go to the Contact Us page.
For information in person, especially if you would like to discuss your individual circumstances in confidence, drop in to the Health Information Exchange next to the Ron Short Centre at Beau Sejour (map) or call 01481 707470.
I have had a referral for medical treatment in the UK. How do I make travel arrangements?
The Health Information Exchange website has been developed on behalf of the States of Guernsey Health and Social Services Department for patients and their relatives to provide information about all aspects of health travel following a referral for medical or surgical treatment to a UK Hospital or Treatment Centre. Visit them at www.healthtravel.org or call on 707470.
Are there any ticket concessions for disabled people in Guernsey?
The main ticket concession we know about is the “Carer Goes Free” scheme which applies to all activities and events at Beau Sejour, the Princess Royal Centre for the Performing Arts and also the museums that are run by the States, like Castle Cornet. You can find out more about eligibility for the scheme and fill out an application form here or just pop in to Beau Sejour and ask for Paulette Marquand, Disability Liaison Officer.
If you know about other ticket concessions, please let us know using the Contact Us page here.
There are no concessions for disabled people travelling on the buses in Guernsey.
I am a wheelchair user. What public transport is available to me?
All buses when collecting or delivering passengers can be lowered for easier access. A wheelchair ramp and an area for wheelchairs makes the buses fully disabled-friendly. For more information about the bus services available, click here.
If you have any queries about the service, contact Island Coachways on 720210 or visit them at their Information Kiosk at the bus terminus. The bus timetable can be viewed here.
For taxis with wheelchair access, contact Gordon at Taxi Direct on 07911 757 757.
Who are the Community Services Team?
The Community Services Team are a group of professionals who provide nursing and social support in the home, which aims to help people to maintain independence and quality of life. Each team includes: Social Workers, District Nurses, Community Staff Nurses, Auxiliary Nurses, Occupational Therapist, Support workers and Carers. Click here to view the Community Services Leaflet.
How do I apply for a Disabled Person’s Blue Badge for my car?
To apply for a Disabled Person’s Blue Badge, contact the Environment Department on 243400. Alternatively you can click here and download an application form. To view a list of the locations of the designated bays on the island click here.
Where can I get help if I think my employer is discriminating against me?
Call the Employment Relations Service on 234567. They are part of the Commerce and Employment Department and are there to give islanders free practical and confidential advice about employment issues. They WILL NOT tell your employer that you have spoken to them and you do not have to be thinking of taking your employer to tribunal – they are happy just to give you general advice about the best way to try to resolve the situation with your employer.
From a legal perspective, whilst unfortunately there isn’t a law in Guernsey specifically relating to discrimination against disabled people, there is some limited protection under the general unfair dismissal rules. To find out more about the progress of employment discrimination law in Guernsey, go to our Newsblog here
Who can help me get the specialist equipment I need?
If you know what you want and are happy to buy it yourself, then your first port of call is St John’s Healthcare Shop on the Rohais where they have a wide range of equipment and supplies. Or you could order what you need on the internet.
But if you need some professional help to decide what’s right for you, or you need assistance to help fund the equipment, you need to speak to an Occupational Therapist (OT) at HSSD. You can either ask your GP to refer you, or you can contact the Community OTs directly. The OTs are part of the Adult Disability and Supported Employment Service which is based upstairs at St Martin’s Community Centre. Or you can call them on 230000.
For Social Security to be able to consider funding any equipment, a recommendation would normally need come from a healthcare professional – in most cases an occupational therapist. The source of the funding is the supplementary benefit scheme, which is subject to a means test. However, if you do not qualify for supplementary benefit, Social Security might still offer assistance taking into account the cost of the equipment or adaptation required and your circumstances.
If Social Security cannot assist, the OT may be able to help you apply for funding to appropriate charities on the island.
Please not that the above process applies to wheelchairs but not prosthetic limbs – these are funded by HSSD.
I live in social housing. Can my house be adapted to make life easier for me?
The Housing Department makes sure that when you are offered a property, that property is suitable in terms of its layout, location and general accessibility. But sometimes your needs will change once you are living there, and the Department will be asked to carry out adaptations such as the creation of additional rooms and access ramps, changes to the layout of the kitchen and the widening of doors.
In such situations the Housing Department will try in the first instance to transfer you to a more suitable property. If this is impossible, and if the adaptations required are not so specific to your needs that they would make the property difficult to allocate in future, the Department will carry out the work itself at no cost to you.
Where can carers go to relax and meet others?
Carers Coming Together offer time to relax and enjoy the company of others in the same situation. You might be looking after a sick or disabled person at home or in residential care.
There’s an Away Day at the Cotils every two months where you can have a whole day to yourself including a massage from the staff at the spa at the OGH, plus lunch. There are also Men’s Monthly Suppers plus a monthly Drop-In from 10am-12 noon on the last Monday of every month.
To find out more, contact Meg on mwhite@cwgsy.net.