Sheltered housing officer

Each of our schemes has a trained sheltered housing officer. They are there to give support, advice and to help tenants to live as independently as possible. To do this, they have links to and provide a wide range of services to make tenants’ lifestyles comfortable, secure, and enjoyable.

Some of the ranges of duties a sheltered housing officer may be involved in:

In an emergency

Pull the emergency cord or press the pendant, and the sheltered housing officer will respond.

Being unwell

The sheltered housing officer will contact a doctor and the family, if requested, or will make that decision, if they feel the tenant is incapable and will help to make the very best arrangements for their care, always respecting the tenants’ wishes.

Someone to talk to

Either for some special help or just to have a chat they are there, they will always be respectful of a tenant’s privacy and the right to confidentiality.

Other duties

A sheltered housing officer’s working week is 37 hours, flexible Monday to Friday.

When a sheltered housing officer is on duty he/she will give emergency help and general assistance in the case of accident or illness, until local emergency services are at hand or assistance from relatives can be obtained.

The sheltered housing officer will act on behalf of the tenant, if required, to liaise with:

• The housing department
• Doctors
• Home care organisers
• Meals on wheels
• Relatives
• Social workers social security
• Any other relevant agencies

The sheltered housing officer will be responsible for ensuring that any reasonable service required by the tenant is requested as soon as possible, but must encourage the tenants to maintain their own life-style and independence.

Despite all the support they give, sheltered housing officers cannot take the place of family and friends. Therefore, we hope that tenants maintain contact with their family and friends and we hope that they continue to give as much support as they possibly can.

What sheltered housing officers do not do

Although the sheltered housing officer do many things for a tenant personally and for the scheme, there are some things they cannot do:

Nursing - they are not qualified nurses, so they are not allowed to change dressings or give medication of any kind (such as administering drugs or helping with ear or eye drops), they can however make arrangements with a doctor or health authority, such as regular visits by the District Nurse if requested.

Cooking and shopping - cooking meals or shopping is not part of the sheltered housing officers’ duties, however, if a tenant urgently need a prescription, or cannot do their own shopping or cooking for a while, they will find someone to give them the help they need; whether family, home care, or voluntary agencies.

Banking - they are not allowed to handle money, therefore, they cannot accept money from a tenant, either for safekeeping or for any other reason, this also includes collecting pensions.

The role of the sheltered housing officer is explained again in an insert which has been distributed to all council tenants in the city.

Please see the documents table below for a copy of the insert.

Documents

To view these documents you might need to download some software. Visit our downloads page for more information.

Sheltered housing - role of a sheltered housing officer that appeared in the What's Up magazine issue 13. File format Adobe Acrobat (pdf) - 446KB

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