How to inventory the equipment and supplies in your parent's home

Why the inventory exists

Equipment arrives in a house one item at a time, from four different places, over eighteen months. Nobody ever writes it down. Then a rail comes loose and no one knows who fitted it, or a second frame is delivered because the first one was never recorded, or something rented has been sitting in the spare room for a year and is still being charged for.

An inventory is not a tidy-up. It is a single page that answers: what is here, where did it come from, who do we call about it, and is it ours.

It earns its keep in four situations. When someone comes to assess the house, you hand it over instead of walking them around. When something breaks, you have the supplier and the reference number without hunting for a receipt. When a sibling offers to help, you can send them a specific line item instead of a vague request. And when your parent moves, or things need to go back, you know exactly what belongs to whom.

Do it on paper, in the house, walking around. Not from memory at your own kitchen table.

Walk the house in this order

Take a clipboard and follow the same route every time. Same route each quarter means you notice what has appeared and what has vanished.

Start at the front door and work inwards, then finish outside. Open every cupboard. The supplies are almost never where you assume — they are in the airing cupboard, under the spare bed, and in a carrier bag behind the sofa.

• Front door and approach: handrail, ramp, threshold strip, outside light, key safe
• Hall and stairs: rails on both sides, stairlift, night lights
• Living room: chair raiser, riser recliner, perching stool, walking frame, trolley, alarm pendant and its base unit
• Kitchen: reachers, jar openers, kettle tipper, trolley, seating
• Bathroom: grab rails, bath board, bath lift, shower chair or stool, raised seat, frame, non-slip mat
• Bedroom: profiling bed, mattress, bed rails, hoist, sling, over-bed table, commode, monitor
• Storage: airing cupboard, spare room, under beds, loft, garage, shed
• Outside: wheelchair, scooter and its charger, ramps, garden rails, car adaptations

What to record for every item

One row per item, and the same columns every time. Sparse columns are what make the sheet usable by somebody who is not you.

The column that saves the most trouble is "owned, rented or on loan". It is also the one nobody can answer eighteen months later, which is precisely why you write it down now.

Photograph the label or asset plate on anything with a motor, a battery or a serial number, and note the file name in the last column. When a supplier asks for the asset number over the phone, you will have it.

• Item, described the way a supplier would say it — not "the blue thing"
• Where it is, by room
• Owned / rented / on loan / provided
• Who supplied it: organisation, contact name, phone number
• Date it arrived
• Serial, asset or reference number
• Battery or charger — which one, and where the charger lives
• Next service, inspection or return date, if there is one
• Condition, in plain words, with today's date
• Photo file name

The consumables page

Keep supplies on a separate page from equipment. Equipment changes twice a year; supplies change every week, and the two sheets have different jobs.

For each consumable, record the exact description printed on the packet — brand, product name, size, and quantity per pack. "The blue pads, medium" causes a wrong delivery; the printed line does not. Add where it comes from, what it costs, how long delivery takes, and who places the order.

Then add the two columns that make it a working page rather than a list: current stock, counted today, and the reorder trigger — the number at which somebody orders more. Write the trigger as a number of packs, not a feeling.

Count the stock on the same day each week or each month and write the date. If two people are shopping independently, this page is what stops you owning nine months of one thing and none of another.

If something is prescribed or supplied rather than bought, note who authorises it and how much notice they need. Ask the pharmacy or the supplier for that lead time rather than assuming it.

• Exact wording from the packet: brand, product, size, quantity per pack
• Where it comes from, and the account or reference number
• Cost per pack and lead time in working days
• Who orders it
• Current stock, counted, with today's date
• Reorder trigger: order more when stock falls below this many packs

Rented, loaned and borrowed items

Anything that is not yours needs four extra facts, and they are all administrative: whose name the agreement is in, what happens if it breaks, who to call, and when it has to go back.

Find the paperwork if it exists, photograph it, and file it in the same section as the inventory. If the paperwork has been lost — which is normal — call the supplier, ask them to confirm the arrangement in writing, and note the date you called and who you spoke to.

Write the return conditions in plain words: does it need collecting or delivering, how much notice, does it have to be cleaned first, is there a charge if a part is missing. Ask the supplier those questions directly rather than guessing from the contract.

One more line worth having: does this item stay with the house or with the person? If your parent moves, that single column decides what goes in the van and what waits by the door for collection.

Mark every borrowed item with a small label showing who it belongs to. It costs a minute and prevents the item being given away in a clear-out by somebody helping.

Keeping it true

An inventory that is eleven months old is worse than none, because people trust it.

Put four dates in the calendar and give each one ten minutes. Walk the same route, tick what is still there, add what has appeared, cross out what has gone, and write the date at the top of the sheet.

The rule that keeps it honest: nothing new enters the house without a line on the sheet, and nothing leaves without being crossed off. Keep the sheet and a pen in the same place — inside the front cover of the binder, or on the fridge — so adding a line takes fifteen seconds.

Give a copy to anyone else who is involved, and put the date in the header so it is obvious which version someone is holding. When you update it, send the new one and say plainly that the old one is out of date.

Questions