Healthy Homes Programme
The Healthy Homes Programme (HHP) is run jointly by Liverpool City Council and the NHS Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT). It aims to prevent ill health and injury resulting from poor quality housing conditions.
What we do
Our Healthy Homes Advocates visit properties in the areas with the greatest health and housing support needs and gather information about the occupants and their health needs, as well as the condition of their homes. We can then provide free help and advice to residents to remove or prevent hazards that can improve their health and wellbeing.
Advice is given on:
- Health proofing your home (from excess cold, damp and mould).
- Home safety (to prevent falls on stairs, flat surfaces and hot surfaces and identifying any slip, trip or fall hazards).
- How to access services provided by various support agencies such as Age Concern or the Benefit Maximisation Service.
- Healthy eating.
- Fuel poverty and keeping your h ome warm enough through the winter.
- Maximising income.
How will I know if HHP is coming to my neighbourhood?
If you live in an area we are due to visit, we will deliver a letter to let you know when our Advocates will be in your area.
Please note: you do not have to take part in the Healthy Homes Programme - it is completely optional.
If you are not at home when we visit but you do want to take advantage of our service, you can phone us to make an appointment at a time that better suits you.
You will be able to recognise our Healthy Homes Advocates as they will be wearing a Healthy Homes uniform and will always carry their Liverpool City Council identification badge. If you are in any doubtyou can always call us on Freephone 0800 0121 754 to check.
What should I expect?
If you decide you would like our help, our Healthy Homes Advocate will ask you a series of questions about your health and home and record the information on a survey form. This will help them to identify any health or support needs you might have and any aspects of the property that should be improved to benefit your health and wellbeing.
If you are concerned about a specific problem, for example a patch of damp, the Advocate may ask to see it, or you can show it to them.
On average, surveys take around 20 minutes to complete.
What happens next?
This depends on each individual person and property. If everything is fine with your health and home, then there is no further action. If you could benefit from being referred to a support agency, we can arrange this for you.
In certain cases, where items of disrepair have been identified in a rented property, one of our Environmental Health Officers will arrange to carry out a health and safety check. They will make sure that the landlord carries out all necessary improvements.
Enforcement
We have a team of Environmental Health Officers who can use enforcement powers to make unwilling landlords improve properties if there are serious health and safety risks to their tenants.
Where landlords fail to carry out the necessary work we can prosecute them if we consider housing conditions to be a danger on the basis of health and safety standards and the landlord is unwilling to take the appropriate remedial action.
Partners
We work closely with a wide network of partners who provide support services to local people. This means that we can put residents in contact with organisations who can help them. For example, we can contact:
- Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to fit smoke alarms in the property.
- Roy Castle Fag Ends to get in contact with you to help you give up smoking.
- Citizen Advice Bureau helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems.
You can read more about the other service providers we work with on our partners page.
How can I find out more?
If you want to know more about this programme you can contact the team on Freephone 0800 0121 754 or email: healthyhomesprogramme@liverpool.gov.uk
Monthly Prize Draw
This competition is open to all Liverpool residents who have had a survey performed at their home during the current month.
The winning person will receive a parcel containing a selection of home safety items not exceeding £50 in value.