Health assessments
The Housing Health and Disability Team – sometimes called the Housing Occupational Therapists or the Housing Medical Team – decides whether you should be awarded a priority for rehousing on health grounds and recommends the type of home you should live in based on your health problems.
It reaches these decisions by considering independent reports and information provided by the professional, medical and healthcare staff working with you, sometimes discussing your case with those staff, and sometimes by assessing you in person.
The Housing Health and Disability Team is made up of healthcare professionals who are very experienced in housing issues. The Team works to the very highest standards, set by professional medical and healthcare bodies. Though we may ask for valuable information from medical and healthcare partners, the final decisions about priority for rehousing, and the type of home you need, are the Council’s to make.
Do I need a health assessment?
If you are applying to the Housing Register, your Housing Solutions adviser will discuss your problems with you and identify whether you should have a health assessment. If you are already on the Housing Register, you should call us to discuss your health needs. We may then ask you to complete a health and disability self-assessment form, giving details of the relevant issue(s). Where more than one member of a household has health issues that need to be assessed, a separate form must be completed for each person and be submitted at the same time. The form will ask you to identify your GP and other health professionals who can provide us with supporting evidence. Do not ask them to contact us, our health assessor can make contact and request any additional information they may need.
What happens next?
We will look at the information provided on your self-assessment form and may contact your GP and other relevant professionals. We do not usually need to make direct contact with you at this stage. Once we have completed the assessment, we will write to you to tell you the results.
Assessments are based on evidence (reports) from a registered health professional only. This is likely to be your GP or consultant. If you have been assessed by a physiotherapist, occupational therapist or mental health professional, they may provide useful additional information on your ability. We will not consider referral letters, appointment letters, letters about benefit claims or letters from complementary therapists, relatives, friends or other representatives. These do not provide medical evidence.
We receive a very large number of requests for a health assessment. It can take up to 15 weeks (and sometimes longer) to complete the assessment and write to you.
Are re-assessments carried out?
Re-assessments may be carried out if:
- your health (or a member of your household’s health) has greatly deteriorated
- you/they have been newly diagnosed with a severe and enduring medical condition
- new information has come to the Council’s attention and/or the Council has reason to believe the level of priority previously awarded may be inappropriate or need review
How to find out more
In person:
Customer Service Centre
The Town Hall
Hornton Street
London W8 7NX
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm
By phone:
Housingline: 020 7361 3008
By email: