THE case of a legless Bolton man who waited two years for a special shower seat has been raised in the House of Commons by MP Peter Thurnham who is calling for stricter rules regulating local authority assessments for the disabled.
The independent former Tory was speaking during the consideration of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Bill in a Commons Committee.
He said: "Local Authorities fail in the duty to assess the needs of the disabled." He supported an amendment that would ensure councils made swift assessments and suggested these could be made by family doctors or qualified independent people rather than social workers.
Mr Thurnham raised the case of Bolton double amputee Joe Higgins in support of his arguments. Mr Higgins, 69, lives in a modern bungalow at Longcliffe Walk, Halliwell, developed by the Collinwood Housing Association.
He said: "Mr Higgins asked me to go to see him because he was told he did not have sufficient priority to have a shower seat, even though his wife had to help him in and out of the bath. It turned out that all records of the local authority and housing association showed he had one leg, and it was decided that with one leg he would be able to manage without a shower seat. Mr Higgins received his shower seat, paid for by Collinwood, soon after Mr Thurnham's intervention. A council spokesman said: "Our records show that Mr Higgins received a different item which he had requested but we have no record of him asking us for a shower seat. Our records do show he is a double amputee." "Mr Higgins had been through two operations, and had at one time had one leg but he had been legless for some time.
"That is an example of the way in which local authorities and housing associations can fail in their duty to make sufficient provision for the disabled." "How could a well-built man with no legs be judged not to have sufficient priority to have a shower seat? "I went to see him and asked representative of both the Housing Association and the Local Authority to meet me there to explain the reasons for that decision.
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