Dementia sufferer ‘degraded’ by snub over lift at Black Country home
A dementia sufferer’s family are locked in a battle with a housing association to have his home of 28 years modified so that he can stay there.
Keith Rudge, aged 58, from Walsall, has been in a six-month dispute to have a lift installed into his home which will help him get upstairs as he suffers from dementia, epilepsy and his legs are swollen due to oedema.
But Paddock Housing Association voted against it because it would ‘set a precedent’, leading to one committee member quitting. Mr Rudge has now attracted the backing of MP for Walsall South Valerie Vaz.
Mr Rudge, who lives with his partner and carer, Mandy Robbins, 61, said: “I feel degraded because I cannot get upstairs and have to live in my living room. I go to the toilet here and I am being washed by someone else.
"It would be fantastic if I could go up and down because it would give me my own independence.”
Documents in support of the lift were sent to the housing association including a letter from Dementia Support at Accord Group to prove he had been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia and epilepsy, along with a letter from the occupational therapist showing a referral had been sent for a disabled facilities grant for the lift – granted in March.
But Paddock’s management committee voted to reject the request.
According to a letter to Ms Vaz it was rejected because: “It would set a precedent whereby other tenants of Paddock Housing Co-operative may request permission from their landlord for structural alterations to the property.”
His daughter Joanna Toole, 33, of Telford, claims she was told they rejected it on the grounds they would have to let other residents have conservatories if they granted permission for the lift.
Paddock Housing committee member Nick Tomlin, 43, backed Mr Rudge and has resigned in light of the situation.
He said: “I resigned from the association over the handling of Keith Rudge. The whole nine months has been a shambles and is currently being handled unprofessionally.
"The decision has been personal and the final straw was hearing another committee member saying if we gave Mr Rudge a lift, we would have to give another resident a conservatory.
“I consider a conservatory to be a luxury and a lift would allow him to get independence back, allowing him to sleep in his bedroom and to use his new wet room Paddock Housing paid for and installed.”
Throughout this, Mrs Toole said her father’s health has been declining.
She said: “All the information has not been correctly submitted to the committee so they only knew half of the situation and the way he has been treated caused his health to deteriorate.
"They recommended a chairlift but he cannot use that due to his epilepsy and they were looking into alternative housing needs but with his dementia, it is unsafe to put him someone unfamiliar.”
The Paddock Housing Co-operative committee said of the situation: “All decisions taken by Paddock Housing Co-operative are made by all members of the committee through a democratic voting process.”
Members declined to comment further.
