As an amputee and wheelchair-user living in North Parramatta, Allan is familiar with navigating mobility issues. However, he wasn’t prepared for some of the manoeuvring required in transitioning from Centrelink support to the new National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The NDIS is the new, person-centric approach from the Australian government, which puts the person with a disability more in control of their choices. As a new, large-scale Government initiative, there have been parts of the process which have been confusing for people looking to get approval for their new NDIS plan.
Allan joined the Zest Care family in June 2017. While he is lucky to have his stepbrother live with him as a full-time Support, Zest Care assist Allan in the Coordination of his Supports from health practitioners and the community, as well as Plan Management – dealing with invoices and tracking spend. They also provide domestic services once a week.
One of the major things which Zest Care has assisted Allan with is ironing out problems with his NDIS plan, which had arisen when another provider incorrectly processed his plan.
Allan’s transport plan had been underfunded and he had been left out of pocket, as he had to make up the difference himself every fortnight. Zest Care submitted a successful review and were able to get the additional transport funding approved within a week, as well as other core supports. This time frame was remarkably fast, given that the National Disability Insurance Agency usually advise that it can take anywhere from two to twelve weeks for revisions to be made.
When asked what advice he would give to anyone about to write their NDIS plan, Alan says it is all about finding the right provider:
“Get someone like Zest Care, who will sit down and listen…and put the plan in place that you actually need and want, not what they think you need! They helped take the hassle out of it.”
That’s music to our ears – we’re delighted we could help Allan unravel some of the paperwork that comes with the NDIS and look forward to helping him manage his plan going forward.