A WOMAN with cerebral palsy has been ‘unable’ to leave her home while waiting for a housing association to have a new door installed.
Anna Rayan, 71, of St Peter’s Street in Brighton, told The Argus how Hyde Housing Association neglected her requests for a new power-operated door, after her old one stopped working.
Anna, who uses an electric wheelchair, learned in January that a problem with the electric mechanism in her front door could not be repaired and needed to be replaced.
Now her door still hasn’t been replaced and she says the weight of opening it manually is unbearable.
Anna hasn’t left her house for four days.
Anna’s door electric door opener has been broken since January
“I don’t go out much now and my dog doesn’t go out with anyone else,” Anna said.
“Last week my back tried to open the door to let my little dog out and steer my wheelchair at the same time. So now I have painkillers for my back.
“If a fire broke out, I would never open the door to get out in time.”
She contacted Hyde again in February and was told her application was “in the system to be assessed for finance”, but they could not confirm when her door would be replaced.
The broken mechanism previously used to open the front door
“I emailed them, emailed them and emailed them – no response,” Anna said.
“I filed a complaint, and they said they were looking into it, but they didn’t do anything about it.”
Anna has a small back garden, but cannot access it due to the style of the door and its slope.
She contacted the housing association three times and each time was told her application was being processed, but was given no time frame.
Anna, a breast cancer survivor, said she had not eaten from Wednesday March 2 until Sunday March 6, due to the stress of the situation. The Argus contacted Hyde Housing Association to get their response.
Jack Bernard, head of fire safety and delivery at Hyde, said: ‘First of all, I would like to apologize to Ms Rayan.
“I know how upsetting this situation is and we want his door fixed as soon as possible. We were called to Ms Rayan’s home in November 2021 and resolved the initial issue with her door. However, other problems were discovered and we ordered the necessary parts.
Anna hadn’t eaten for days due to stress
“There is currently a global issue with manufacturers supplying parts and we were unable to install these parts until January 2022. Unfortunately, we then found that the door was beyond repair and an entirely new system was required. But again, there were further delays from manufacturers.
“We are aware of the urgency of Ms Rayan’s situation and are now researching alternative materials, and will be able to provide an installation date by the end of this week.”
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An hour and eight minutes after The Argus received that first response, a spokeswoman for Hyde got in touch again and said: ‘We have now successfully found the parts to repair Ms Rayan’s door and are working with her to arrange a date to carry. complete the work.
Anna is now due to have her door repaired next week.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-10 05:00:00
