An 80-year-old woman with multiple chronic illnesses has waited six years to be rehomed and says the stairs in her home are 'killing' her.
Nancy Brewster has lived in her current home on Penny Lane for 26 years and has been waiting six years for Onward Homes to move her to a ground floor flat or bungalow. Nancy is asthmatic, needs a hip replacement, has COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), osteoporosis and osteoarthritis but is still waiting to move house, despite doctors saying it would greatly improve her health.
Living in the three-bedroom flat means Nancy has to make her way down 13 stairs each time she has to leave and 17 to get to the back door. The 80-year-old said she is at risk of falling each time she tries to leave the house.
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Nancy lives on her own with her small poodle, Poppy. Her frail state means that even taking shopping up to her flat is risky.
Nancy, who is originally from Sunderland, said: “I don’t know what to do. I’m just done with it. Why have I had to wait so long for a ground floor flat? It doesn’t make sense.
“They can’t help an 80-year-old woman. These stairs are absolutely killing me and I can hardly get up them. I’m just in limbo and it’s not nice.”
Nine months ago the condition of the flat itself started to deteriorate. A leak in the ceiling eventually formed a hole and two large cracks in the walls have kept getting worse.
Plasterers went to the flat last week but Nancy said they couldn’t do anything as the cracks had gone through to the bricks.
Nancy has been with Onward Homes for 47 years. She said: “It takes me so long to get up and down the stairs that I don’t go out much. It would be absolutely marvellous if I could move to a ground floor flat.”
She said that she would move almost anywhere else in Liverpool as her current flat feels dangerous to live in. She added that she feels “frustrated” with how little has been done to help her move to a safer, more accommodating, flat.
A spokesperson for Onward Homes said: “When attending a repair at the property, we became aware of superficial cracking in the walls and ceiling of the living room.
"We want to fix this for the resident and are engaging with her to agree a time to complete this work. Temporary accommodation is also being offered to the resident whilst the work is completed.
“We are also actively supporting the resident with her request to find alternative accommodation. We entirely appreciate that this is a challenging situation for the resident and we are seeking a long-term solution that meets her needs.”
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