Two signatures for HMD1 form 'a burden'

Legan Cllr Paul Ross called for a review of the HMD1 form which currently requires signatures from two medical professionals.

Councillor Paul Ross has called on Longford County Council for a review of what he described as the “huge burden” placed on people to secure signatures from two healthcare professionals when completing a HMD1 form for social housing adaptation due to a disability or on medical grounds.

An HMD1 form enables a local authority to assess an applicant’s housing needs on medical or disability grounds.

In a motion proposed before Longford County Council, Cllr Ross said, “This requirement is a huge burden on people who have to seek out a second medical professional to sign the form before they can apply for urgent works.”

Cllr Ross said the requirement was not needed for those who are applying for private house grants due to medical or disability reasons.

In discussing his motion before the chamber, Cllr Ross pointed out that the difficulty in getting the form signed was primarily experienced by people in towns where there's only one GP or healthcare professional.

In response the council said the proposal would be placed as an item on the agenda for the October 19 meeting of the Social Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) a local government advisory group that helps shape policies on housing and sustainable communities.

Cllr Ross said he was quite happy with this response to his motion, adding “I spoke to Mary, the Director of Services on this and it'll be discussed through the SPC. So I'm sure we can get a happy result there.”

In voicing his support for the motion, Cllr Pat O’Toole pointed out that a physio should be one of the health professionals allowed to sign the form.

He told the chamber, “I would have written to the Director of Services on July 1 when we were having difficulty with getting an OT (Occupational Therapist) report for a man that's under 65. There's an OT in the HSE that would deal with it but I've long held a view that physio should be one of the people that would actually sign those forms.”

“One time the practice nurse could sign it in the GP practice, but that was taken away. I think we should widen it out a bit. It is a difficult thing to do. If I didn't know better, I’d think we were putting obstacles in people's way in terms of getting these grants and particularly this HDMI. It’s a good motion, Paul, and I fully support it.”

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