Housing and Health a Link that is broken.

The link between Housing and Health is broken, severely limiting the lives of many our story is just one. 

 Background.

My husband contracted, through no fault of his own, a Staphylococcus infection in his neck in 2007, which crushed his spinal cord, leaving him as a high level (C3-C5) partial tetraplegic. I at the time had a fantastic career as an internationally based engineering project manager, my husband had semi-retired to support me in this. After being airlifted back to the UK, Hubby was placed in a Northern Spinal Injuries Unit. We were both treated so appallingly at this NHS unit we determined that the only way to maximise his recovery was to go private. We used our savings to ensure that he got the Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy that would maximise his chances of regaining some function. He went from being lucky if he got 2 x 20 minute sessions a week to having 5 sessions a day of different activities. We have since 2009, having used up our savings, transferred his outpatient care to the London NHS Spinal Injuries Unit who have been wonderful.

2009 we secured continuous health care funding for him. I thought this would mean that I would be able to return to work so that we could be masters of our own destiny.

Encountered Difficulties.

• Standard / Quality of care provided in the community is not safe for someone with complex medical needs.
• There are insufficient male care workers for disabled men that need intimate care tasks plus need to be physically moved on a regular basis for pressure sore prevention and relief.
• The NHS like the local councils go for the cheapest they can get away with rather than the best fit for the disabled person. 
• Our housing is a health and safety nightmare for care agencies to stand a remote chance of giving a decent service. 
• Often trapped on first floor when very small lift out of service. 
• Councils totally misunderstand the accessible housing needs of those with severe mobility issues and are placing people in totally unsuitable, unsafe housing. 
• At National level the British Building regulations for wheelchair standard homes falls way short of the minimum space needs of those that use electric wheelchairs as more and more people do as they age with a disability. For Example, only making allowance for 1.2m turn away space from the end of a bed. Reference BS Part M[4](3b). 
• The Disability Facilities Grant only allows for pure access issues and fails to legislate and therefore fund needs that are for medical reasons. For Example, extra bathroom for care worker use to prevent cross contamination, extra space for use of physio equipment.

The Result of Deficiencies.

1. We have only had care provided for 5 months out of the last 84 months (7 years).
2. Saving the NHS 7yrs x 100hrs/week care provision allocation = [gross cost £20/hr x 100 x 52 x 7] = £728k – care provided = £684k saving.
3. I have lost more than £420k in potential earning income, my career is in tatters, my future financial security has been lost.
4. My health as sole carer has suffered and I may well now need care myself in the not distant future due to the tremendous physical strain my body has endured physically lifting my husband in and out of his wheelchair due to the lack of space here and the hours that I need to be “on duty” as his needs 24/7 care.
5. Hubby due to not having the space to use a tilt table has had more problems with his bowels and many more UTI’s than he could have had. He has lost even more function in his arms and hands that if he had had an accessible environment he would not have probably lost as he could have continued to do some things for himself. He is also very depressed as where he lives it is totally life limiting, isolating, too far away from his family and friends.

Tried to Help Ourselves.

Recognising that we need to first sort our housing situation so that we can fully engage / tackle compiling a care team we have done the following since 2009 without any success.

• Got ourselves on the council waiting lists Spalding & Peterborough.
• Contacted local charities and housing associations that specialise in accessible housing.
• Made local politicians aware of our plight.
• Looked at the HOLD scheme to see whether we could own our home.
• Maintained contact with local council funded OT’s.
• Worked with a not-for-profit organisation who said they would try and help.
• Held numerous meetings with council officials trying to explain what we need.
• Wrote and had a paper accepted for the parliamentary investigation into the built environment. October 2016.

Nothing we have done to try and help ourselves has resulted in us getting the help we urgently need.

NHS England could help more.

I note that there have been NHS monies made available for another disadvantaged group, those with learning difficulties which I am glad about as my eldest brother has a severe brain damage condition. May I please beg that those under the continuing health funding also need specialised help as everyone else is ignoring their plight. 

1. Councils and Housing Associations seem to think their duty to the disabled is being fulfilled with the building of lifetime standard homes.
• Most of these are totally unsuitable for those with higher mobility needs as it is very expensive to retrofit the extra space that an electric wheelchair user needs.
• Bathrooms are too small for the specialised shower trolleys / recliner commodes used by those in the higher need category. We have calculated we need a minimum 2.5m x 2.5m footprint.
• Most accommodation only has one bathroom, which means full shift care-workers have nowhere to change, wash separately after body fluid contamination and vice versa gives less protection to an immune compromised client. Also, means spouses / other family members are often denied the use of a bath.  


• Most architects assume a double bed in a master bedroom when many require a hospital bed + single bed. This means that a master bedroom must be a minimum 4m x 4m (without storage) to allow for safe manoeuvre space by wheelchair, and safe working areas all around hospital bed by care-workers. The other bed needed by spouse or partner as most people do not get funding for full time coverage and need to make up the deficit in care coverage.


• Extra care units always assume that people will be semi ambulant this is very clear in the way they always default to an abled-bodied kitchen and bathroom design rather making all accessible by wheelchair. Anything that needs to be retrofitted in our experience never gets done.
2. Local hospitals are under extreme pressure to transfer patients back out into the community as soon as possible, despite the lack of suitable housing and community care.
3. Care Homes and Nursing Homes are closing, leaving those with more specialised needs with the unpalatable choice of accepting sub-standard care for their needs or moving long distances away from their support networks.
4. The national campaigns for the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s have been so successful that they are starting to affect the available options for those that do not have the disease. For example, ask clinicians or community care people regarding the dangers of Autonomic Dysreflexia and you will in most cases be met with a blank stare. 

NHS England therefore needs to keep the pressure up on all the agencies involved to ensure that extra care housing unit commissioners are considering the higher needs of the growing percentage population living longer in the community with complex health and disability challenges. Local Councils / Housing Associations need to be encouraged to work more closely with NHS bodies administrating the population that come under continuing health care. I recently attended a meeting of senior strategic housing people locally where they admitted that they have no idea of the actual housing needs of the people on their waiting lists, and that when people come under NHS CHC they have even less information, because social services are usually at arms length if involved at all.

It would be helpful for NHS England to develop template housing plans that would meet the needs of much of those with complex mobility & health needs; that these are disseminated widely among architects, housing associations, councils, etc. with of course lots of input from the disability community. 

This text has been sent by myself to NHS England so far no response. watch this space. 

Reply was along the lines, Housing is nowt to do with us. Well as long as you have that attitude you will always have people staying in hospital longer than you would like !!


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