‘Palmed off’ tenant says she was told to wash herself in kitchen sink bowl
Disabled resident with deteriorating health who is unable to use her bath shower could wait 18 months for modifications to her flat
Friday, 16th October — By Finn Logue
Allison Prodrick, right, in the kitchen of her 10th-floor flat with Sarah Nash, from the Finsbury Estate TRA
THE Town Hall told a severely disabled and vulnerable Clerkenwell council tenant she must wash out of a bowl in her kitchen sink, after she asked them for modifications to her flat.
Allison Prodrick lives in a 10th-floor flat in Michael Cliffe House in the Finsbury Estate, and suffers with fibromyalgia, emphysema and crumbling ankle and elbow bones, as well as COPD.
Her shower is over a bath that, due to her deteriorating health and recent hospital operations, she can no longer climb into.
Ms Prodrick has been asking the Town Hall’s housing and Occupational Therapy (OT) team for modifications: the removal of the bath to make a wet room shower she could easily use.
But she was told in a phone call from the council’s OT team that this would not be possible for at least 18 months, nor could she move to another property. She says she was told that instead, she must use a small bowl and wash from her kitchen sink each day, due to her case “not being a priority”.
This is despite a visit from one occupational therapist who advised that her flat was completely unsuitable for her needs, and that it should be amended as a matter of urgency.
“I’m getting very, very angry now,” Ms Prodrick told the Tribune. “I just want to scream and shout all of the time. I can’t go on like this, I don’t want to leave my flat. As disabled residents, is this how we have to live? It’s just awful, I can’t wash properly and I feel so dirty.”
Ms Prodrick also suffers from depression and said she has been forced to up her medication dosage because of the “mental toll” the situation has taken, adding: “I’m just so mentally down because of this, and I’m not sleeping. I’m being passed from pillar to post by the council despite constant communication. It’s unacceptable.”
Sarah Nash, from the Finsbury Estate TRA, has been trying to help Ms Prodrick through the distress, sending emails and approaching local councillors to escalate her situation, but said they are being “palmed off” by the council.
“This is a basic human right, to be able to wash and be clean, and it is a matter of dignity. It is actually against the law for a landlord not to provide these facilities,” she said. “The council just don’t seem to care, they never show any urgency on this and we’re just constantly chasing updates and responses from them. It’s just so frustrating and disheartening.”
Ms Nash added that she was aware there was a severe lack of funding within the council’s OT and housing teams, but expressed concern as to how many other disabled residents across Islington were in equally unsuitable situations as a result.
“How many people across the borough are disabled? Loads. We know that they [the council] don’t have the funding to build loads of new social homes or move disabled residents to appropriate flats, but in the interim they have got to adapt the flats.”
To make matters worse, Ms Prodrick said when she first asked the council for assistance with her conditions, she received no home visits and was instead sent assistance equipment that turned up broken and unstable.
She added: “In an ideal world, I would just say ‘stick it up your bum’ and pay to have everything amended myself, but I can’t do that, because I’m on benefits and all my money goes to the council for rent.”
The Tribune reported earlier this year how residents across the estate met with councillors to highlight what they say are constant issues of neglect and disrepair.
Councillor Ruth Hayes, the Town Hall’s health chief, said: “We recognise how difficult and distressing this situation is for Ms Prodrick, and we understand the importance of being able to wash safely, comfortably, and with dignity in your own home.
“We’ve been in direct contact with Ms Prodrick, and we are arranging further, urgent assessments to consider both any immediate assistance that may help in the short-term, as well as longer-term adaptations to her home. We appreciate that Ms Prodrick is, understandably, seeking clarity around how we can rectify the situation.
“As a council, we remain committed to supporting Ms Prodrick, and to working with her to identify suitable solutions to the issues that she faces. We recognise that there are other disabled residents in similarly challenging circumstances, and will take learnings from this case as we continue to improve our work across the council to support them.”
