Medical priority appeals process guide

The information on this page will help you understand how to request a review of a decision about your application for rehousing by Gateshead Council. If you have any other questions or need more help, please email us at qs@gateshead.gov.uk.

Who can ask for an appeal

To ask us to look at a medical priority decision again, you need to:

1. Be a medical priority applicant: you should have applied for medical priority and received a decision from Gateshead Council.

2. Have a decision letter: you would have received a formal decision from us about your medical priority application. This letter would have included the medical priority decision and, if you were successful, the level of priority awarded and types of properties you can use a priority award to bid for. The letter would have also told you about being able to ask for a review of the decision.

3. Be quick: you have 21 days from the date our letter was sent out to ask for an appeal.

4. Have a good reason: your reasons for appeal could include your current property being unsuitable for your medical conditions due to:

• not being close to family or friends who provide care/support with your medical conditions
• not being the right size for your family which is negatively affecting your medical conditions
• the condition of the property negatively effecting one or more medical conditions
• the original assessment not fully considering the effect of one or more of your medical conditions

5. Send us the right information: you need to send us all the important information that will help support your case for an appeal including any letters about your medical conditions you may have.

How to appeal

Details on how to submit an appeal are contained in the decision letter sent to you following the assessment of your application.

You need to request an appeal within 21 days of getting your decision letter.

If you miss the 21-day deadline, you must explain why and give us proof. We will only look at the late request if there is a special reason.

Not knowing you could ask for an appeal or not knowing the deadline are not acceptable reasons for being late.

What we need from you

For us to look at your appeal properly, you will need to provide the information we ask for. We will only ask you to tell us about things that relate to your reason for making an appeal. For example, if your reason for appeal is that the property is too far away from people who provide care/support with your medical conditions, we may ask you to provide contact details for the people who support you and details of the care/support provided.

Understanding the appeal process

Here's a simple guide to each step of the appeal process:

Start your appeal

If you want to appeal, you need to do it within 21 days of getting your decision letter.

Late submissions

If you request an appeal more than 21 days after getting your decision letter, we will check if you have sent us a valid reason within three working days of receiving your appeal.

Receiving your appeal

We will send a letter within two working days to say we have received your appeal request. The letter will tell you who your independent review officer is and invite you for a chat about your case. We will aim to finish the review of the decision within 56 days.

Independent review

Our independent review officer looks at your appeal. This person is totally independent and was not involved in your medical priority assessment or any other decisions. They'll complete a full review of all of the relevant information before making a decision.

Regular updates

We send you updates on the status of your appeal every 14 days, using your preferred method of contact.

Making the decision

Our independent review officer decides what happens with your appeal while following any rules and guidance we have. Your review can end in three different ways:

• Withdrawn: this means your appeal stops. It could be because we did not get enough information from you, you found a home while we were reviewing, or you asked to stop the appeal
• Dismissed: if the appeal doesn't go your way, the medical priority decision remains the same
• Upheld: if we agree that you should be awarded medical priority, a higher level of priority or that the property types you can use a medical priority award to bid for should be extended

Telling you what we decide

The review decision will be made by an independent senior officer who has had no previous involvement with the medical priority decision. The review decision will be based on the facts of the case and the criteria in Gateshead Council's Allocations Policy.

Your case and appeal decision is checked by our service manager before we send you a letter clearly explaining our decision and why we made it.

If you do not agree with our decision

The review decision is final and there are no further grounds to challenge a review decision. However after a period of 6 months has passed you can submit a new application for medical priority which will be reassessed. You will then have the opportunity to appeal against any decision made.

Please note: We prioritise appeals by the date we receive them. Appeals including temporary accommodation will receive priority in this list. Our goal is to be fair while completing your appeal in the fastest time possible.

Change in circumstances

If during the appeal process there is any significant change in your circumstances, such as the number of people who live with you changes or you are diagnosed with a new medical condition, please let us know as quickly as possible as any significant change in your circumstances may affect our review.

Extra help

These organisations can help you with your appeal

• Citizens Advice: they are experts with housing laws and will help you with submitting your appeal. Visit Citizens Advice Gateshead (opens new window) or call them at 0808 278 7902.
• Shelter: they are a national organisation that give legal advice and help. Visit the Shelter website (opens new window) or call 0808 800 4444.

Remember to have all your documents ready when you talk to them.

These organisations can help you if you're stressed or worried

• Gateshead Talking Therapies: they offer talking therapy for stress and worry. You can ask to see them yourself or through your doctor. Visit the Gateshead Talking Therapies website (opens new window) or call 0191 283 2541
• Tyneside Mind: they have lots of ways to help you feel better, like talking groups and one-on-one counselling. To learn more, visit the Tyneside Mind website (opens new window) or call 0191 477 4545.
• Peer Talk: join groups where people talk about what they are going through and how to get through it. Find out more on the Peer Talk website (opens new window) or call 07719 562 617.

Tell us what you think

After your housing appeal, we will send you a survey for a chance to tell us what you thought about your experience. Your feedback helps us to improve our process, train our team more and update our website.